A Kiss of Fate
by Sweet Daydreamer
Summary: A young warrior from another dimension was sent into a world that she'd once thought was impossible. She thought her life couldn't have been worse until her first love betrayed her, she met a rude and loud-mouthed bandit, and when she crossed paths with a cold and manipulative rival. With old enemies chasing near and new threats rising, how will Reiko survive this fairytale?
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings and Ends

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fushigi Yuugi. This amazing anime was created by Yuu Watase. I only created Reiko and her family and friends.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**

**A Kiss of Fate**

**By: Sweet Daydreamer**

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**

**Chapter 1: Beginnings and Ends**

"Run faster, run faster," hooted the white owl from high in the tree.

Tears stained her plump, rosy cheeks and oxygen was lacking from her tiny lungs, but that didn't slow her small, hasty steps.

"Stop following me," she hissed at the owl breathlessly, a feeling of impending doom overtaking her.

According to her father, if an owl called to you at night, rotten luck was near. Not that she was old enough to be a big believer in superstitions (which were nothing more than stories that her father made up to assure she wouldn't wander around at night), but she knew that she was in store for bad luck already.

She scuttled clumsily down the dusty road towards her secret hideout - her tree house. It was a ruined shelter that used to be maintained by her father, who also built it. It may have been too dirty and dilapidated now to even climb up, but this place still served its sole purpose; to bring back old memories which were forever locked away in her heart.

She came to an abrupt stop once her small feet reached the trunk of the large tree in front of her. Her eyes gazed up longingly at the tree house as she thought about the three years that had slowly slipped away since the last time she was here. Tears threatened to break loose but she blinked them away.

Determined to enjoy her final minutes of escape, she mounted up the wobbly rope ladder and crawled into the house. The log floor creaked and squeaked so loud as if it was about to give away and collapse, but her focus was fastened to the stuffed bear that sat at the center of the floor. It was a hand-made gift that her late mother had ever given her just a short while before she passed away.

Sudden, vivid images flashed through her head. Her gentle, beautiful mother sat at the corner embroidering ragged dolls by hand; her father, a brave and skilled warrior played tea party with her and a row of stuffed animals. As silly as it was, the grown-ups didn't care. Because they both simply shared one common interest, and that was to bring a priceless smile to their only child's face. This now abandoned and shabby wreck was once a private dreamland for the family of three. Weeping tears of heartache and sorrow at last, she slumped down and grabbed the bear.

"I miss you so much, mommy," she sobbed hard, clinging the bear rigidly to her chest. "I wish you were still here with me!"

"Reiko!"

Startled by the sudden loud bark of her name from below, Reiko jumped even though she instinctively knew who it was.

"Reiko! I know you're hiding up there! Get down here immediately!"

She brought her small hand to her mouth to muffle any noises she was about to make.

"If you don't climb down right now then I will come up to get you!"

She gave it a long moment of consideration and figured if she were to receive beating either way then perhaps it would be wiser to obey now and lessen the severity of the punishment. Reiko gave in.

"Where were you? I was so worried!" His voice boomed at her once her feet touched the ground. "And look at you! You're a filthy mess!"

Dust dirtied and smeared her hands and face when she was running earlier but she was oblivious to it until now.

"I'm sorry, daddy..." Reiko apologized with her head bowed while picking up the angry vibes her father was giving off, her grip on the bear tightened unconsciously.

She stole a glimpse at him and noted that other than fury, there was something else in his expression. There were indications of grief and mourning while he stared up at the tree house in silence.

The last time he had been here was in the summer. That day, the sun shone brightly on the world below and Reiko had radiated happiness because it had been her eighth birthday. She still recalled with clarity of her parents' smiles as they had their annual picnic in that cozy shelter, just for her. The soiled floral pattern dress she wore now was their present to her that year. It was also the very last gift she would ever receive from the both of them. Life with her parents was great right up until the day her mother became sick.

They called it cancer.

Reiko had heard of it before but she was young, too young to understand how deadly and severe the disease was. Her world had crumbled the moment she had witnessed her mother breathe her last breath in her hospital bed and slipped away into a long, long sleep.

_Mommy is with the angels up in the heaven now_, was what Reiko's father had told her.

From that day forth, it was just Reiko and her father. Though his smile was still full of affection, it was never the same as before. The tree house was never used anymore too, as if they had came to an unspoken silent agreement about its use. It was just too strong of a reminder of what they had lost in a wife and mother.

"Were you using your powers in town again?" her father's voice broke into her reverie, his voice suspicious - though Reiko was sure he already knew the answer.

"Daddy..." Reiko's feet shifted uncomfortably, clearly guilty at his accusation. "But I can explain!"

She peeked at him and saw the stern expression on his face, still waiting for her to speak up.

"The old lady tripped and cut her palm! She was bleeding! It looked painful so I wanted to help her. I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I promise I won't do it again!" she pleaded in desperation, tears welling up in her eyes again.

Instead of shouting, he breathed a heavy sigh and knelt before her with a suddenly very tired look.

"Reiko..." He began gravely.

"I know, I know!" Reiko interrupted. "I'm not allowed to use my powers in front of everybody except you even if my life depends on it. I remember! I promise it won't happen again! I'm very, very, very sorry. Please don't be mad, daddy."

To Reiko's surprise, the expected scolding she predicted to come never did. Instead she was pulled into a warm embrace, her father's comforting arms clutching her snugly to him as he whispered softly into her ears. "This is very important and you have no choice but to do as I say, Reiko. It's for your own safety. I can't stay with you forever. You must learn to protect yourself."

Her heart fell at his words. It felt like he was saying his last words to her; exactly the same as her mother had before she was forever taken away by the angels from Reiko. He was the only family she had in this world now. What would she do if he abandoned her too? Tears spilled down her face at the thought of losing her father.

Reiko hooked her short arms around his neck tightly as if he would vanish if she released her hold. "No! It can't be true! Don't leave me too, daddy! Please! I'll be good and listen! Don't go with the angels too!"

She couldn't stop weeping now and her father pulled away just to cup her cheeks with his huge hands, wiping away the sad teardrops. "What did I tell you about crying? Tears are only for children and you are no longer a child."

"I'm only eleven!" Reiko sobbed harder.

"But you told me you want to be strong like me, and daddy doesn't shed tears so easily, right?" Reiko gave a weak nod and slowly began to dry her tears.

"I know it hurts when someone you love dies but they will never be truly gone if you keep them close in your heart and cherish their memories." Though his words were soothing, Reiko didn't like the feeling that she was getting. It seemed like there was a hidden meaning behind those words. "Besides, daddy will grow old and weak too and I cannot take care of you anymore when that day comes, my little angel."

"I will be old enough by then and it will be my turn to take care of you!"

"And what if daddy can't even walk?"

"Then I will carry you around!" she offered with excitement.

"But I'm heavy," he frowned at her as if she hadn't figured that part out already.

"It's alright. I will be stronger too!" Reiko flexed her tiny biceps as if there were unseen muscles already. "I can bring you to places you want to go!"

Reiko felt a hearty chuckle vibrate through his chest as he gave her a last hug but she couldn't laugh with him. Yes, although there had been times when he showed the protective side of himself, Reiko had never seen him this way before. He was always her strong, brave father who she would never stop loving and the thought of him becoming fragile and weak was just too painful to bear. The terrible feeling still grasped tightly around her heart.

"It's getting late, we should go hom-" his lips were moving, but the words seemed to fade off.

Reiko looked at him, confused. "What did you say?"

"Wake up," a different voice spoke.

"Huh?" Where was that familiar voice coming from?

"Reiko, wake up."

**X X X**

"Reiko, wake up."

Reiko stirred, hazily aware that she had fallen asleep under the hot sun. _A dream_, she thought. _And...oh my gosh_! _I'll be burned so badly I won't be able to move! _But her cheek, when she laid an experimental hand on it, was cool and supple. She looked up at the umbrella that stood over her, sheltering her from the blazing sun.

"So you're finally awake. I thought you would never rejoin the conscious world, so I pulled the umbrella over."

She looked over at the silver-haired young man spread comfortably in the sun next to her with a palm sized portable minicomputer in his hand.

"Don't you ever stop working?" Reiko complained, stretched her limbs and sat up.

Her left hand automatically searched for the butterfly armlet arrayed with sparkling rhinestones on her upper right arm. It was an involuntary gesture in which she did every time she was seeking comfort or when she was reliving the memories of her late parents. The gem-stoned armlet had belonged to her mother once, before she passed away. Reiko had always worn it as a memento and never took it off unless it was absolutely necessary, which was rare.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"You've napped for almost two hours."

"Two hours? And what have _you_ been doing? Gazing at my pretty face and getting drunk with my spellbinding beauty?" Reiko feigned a look of pure shock, her eyes budging outward.

Normally she wasn't the flirtatious type but it became quite entertaining when Reno played along sometimes. The corner of his lips curved up.

"As mesmerizing as your beauty may be, I find this story to be a match for it in keeping my attention," said Reno with a small smile as he flashed the minicomputer in his face before tossing it aside. He sat up as too and turned his gaze on her. "And actually, I was reading _this_ for entertainment, so I don't consider it work."

_The Universe of the Four Gods._

Reiko knew little about the supposedly thousand year old legend. It was the ancient myth referring to a couple of young girls who were transported into a novel's universe. Inside the novel, they each discovered their roles as the priestesses of the individual Gods and were destined to gather the seven celestial warriors in order to summon the God and obtain three wishes. Or something like that. Reiko had never cared enough to learn about the story.

She muffled her yawn with a hand and sluggishly asked, "why do you always study that myth? Do you really believe in that tale?"

Reno shrugged his broad shoulders in a casual response. "Wouldn't it be in our best interest to at least read up the legend since we both are Her Majesty's protectors?"

Queen Gabriella, the inspiring ruler of Garnesia, was who Reno was referring to. Much like the priestesses in the mythology of The Universe of the Four Gods, she also served her destined role as the honorable protector of the world's biggest and most prosperous country. The only dissimilarity was that the Queen was believed to possess the powers to summon all four Gods instead of a specific one only. On top of that, rumor had it that she had been bestowed the powers of the Gods to defend Garnesia and fend off other intrusive countries who had their greedy, ambiguous sights set on this prospering kingdom. But these were only rumors sailing across the borders and had yet to be proven. Reiko had also yet to witness the use of such powers during the two years of her loyal service.

"I guess, but you should know my keen interest lays elsewhere," Reiko couldn't stop the sated grin crawling onto her face.

"Ah, I seem to have forgotten about your money crazed syndrome," the tactless mockery came with a handsome smirk.

Reno had been teasing her about her love of money for a while now. He called it a psychological disorder. He just didn't understand money was the necessity in their survival. If you have money, you can just get many things and do many things. Not to be superficial but this was the facts of life that they could not simply deny.

"Money is power," she persuaded.

"Money is also the root of all evil."

Reiko spread her arms over her head in surrender. "You win."

"As always." Was it her imagination or did his smirk just grow bigger?

"Arrogant jerk."

For the next few minutes, they just sat closely together, appreciating each other's companionship in silence and the breathtaking scenery before them. They watched as the sunset stole over the hills, silently cloaking each long rows of bluffs in golden shadows until the entire landscape was dusky. The sky above the valley Reiko had grown to love was slowly transformed from crisp blue to amber-gold. With the cooling temperatures brought by the setting sun, the smell of earth mingled with the sweet-sour scent of fermenting fruit trees.

Reiko gazed out over Garnesia landing. Her home. The only place she had ever lived. The only thing on earth she had ever truly loved. The only realm she would fight for even if she was to be thrown into an endless war that would cost everything she had worked so hard for, including her life.

"You're quiet. What are you thinking about?" Reno's voice brought her absent mind back to reality. She had been oblivious to his gaze for a while now.

Reiko smiled. "Just how nothing defines Garnesia except our striking landscape. What about you?"

"I was thinking," Reno stilled, but his stunning emerald eyes were locked with hers. "I had not realized how accustomed I have become to the feel of your presence. I will miss you."

Her fine eyebrow skyrocketed. "What? You talk like we were to go our separate ways."

Reno looked away, giving her a humorless curve of his lips. "Life is unpredictable, don't you agree?"

"No, I just know you've been acting weird on me the last few days, as if you're hiding something from me. I've told you before, Reno. If you have any problems then come to me. I will always lend you a _sympathetic_ ear, at no extra charge," Reiko threw him a shameless smile.

"How thoughtful of you."

"You're welcome," she rose to her feet. "It's time to get going. I still have to drop by Daisuke's place to pick up some firearms for tomorrow."

Reiko advanced towards her parked motorcycle that she had spent a fortune on last week. She had absolutely no idea what had possessed her when she could have gotten something else half the price. It wasn't that she couldn't afford to spend the money, far from that, but it was definitely out of character for her to part with money unnecessarily. Yet when she had seen the sleek black sport bike parked at the dealer lot, every muscle in her body had tensed, and she had found herself asking for it rather than the cheaper car.

She mounted her baby effortlessly, gripping the leather handles at the sides as the powerful machine roared into life, its engine purring the way no other cars possibly could. There was already a sudden rush of adrenaline surging through her even before she could start flying down the winding highway; the same way it did when she was on a dangerous mission.

"Reiko, wait," Reno sprinted up to her. His hand was fishing for something from his black pants pocket. To her surprise, he took out a white gold plated necklace with three multi-colored heart shaped crystals linked together. "I want to give you this."

Reiko was at a loss for words and made a face showing her confusion. Reno must have seen the puzzled look on her face when he added, "Isn't it your sixteenth birthday tomorrow?"

She slapped her forehead with the heel of her palm. Birthdays have became quite meaningless since her eleventh birthday. It was something Reiko had been shrugging off for a long time now and she couldn't help herself from feeling slightly touched by his thoughtful gesture.

"Oh, right! For some reason my mind was totally drawing a blank about that. But you could have just waited out until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow might not be the best time. Want me to put it on for you?" Reiko nodded and turned her back to him.

Her heart skipped a beat when he gathered her long raven locks in a handful and gently tossed her hair over her front. She was fully aware when he slipped his hands around her head or how his fingers came in contact with her bare neck each time.

"Why are you so nice to me? Was this your way of hitting on me, by any chance?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. It was a stupid question but she needed a distraction, even if it was a poor one.

Reno dropped his hands and smiled in her hair. She noticed how different he looked when the expression reached his eyes. Genuine and more carefree. "As you wish."

"I really like it," her fingers already tracing the gems on the pendant, lowering her gaze. "It matches my style."

"Glad I didn't disappoint." Before Reiko knew what was happening, Reno had already bent down and kissed her cheek. Blood was rushing to her face. It took almost all of her willpower to not jump from that unexpected kiss. Reiko turned into stone as she could only manage to stand stiffly while their faces were only an inch apart.

"Happy birthday," his voice was so soft.

Before she could stop herself, her lips instinctively lifted up into a genuine smile. Reiko stared into his warm emerald eyes and their gazed locked for a moment before she found her breath to speak again.

"Thank you."

**X X X**

"Reiko, don't touch that."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

Reiko frowned, but did as she was told. She put down the weird looking Holger gun. Apparently it was a ten-round gun and each round did something different. Like the 'tracker' bullet which tracked target and would burn out every nerve in your body, or the 'gooey' shot with a sticky, goo-like web substance. Man, how was it possible for this man to come up with the strangest yet most fascinating concepts in weapons? It truly boggled her mind.

_And Daisuke claimed he has a life, yeah, go figure, _Reiko mused to herself.

"Alright then, what you've got for me? And I'm warning you, I don't want anything like the Thunder 200M I've bought from you last time. It was all banged up after a week. What a rip off!"

Daisuke stopped whatever he was doing and turned to her with narrowed eyes. "I'm pretty sure it would have lasted longer if you haven't dropped it in the swimming pool or left it in a burning oven."

"Wrong, it wasn't an oven. It was the classical forge in the museum which was heated that time," Reiko attempted to correct him, as if that would salvage what was left of her dignity.

"All the same," he snorted. "I just can't figure out how you even manage to destroy weapons in the most unlikely ways?"

"Hey," She shook a finger at his nose. "It takes all kinds of people to make a world so quit your discrimination. What do you have?" Reiko watched as he took out this medium sized gun that was a little _too_ big for her taste.

"This is my newest invention that would only operate under the recognition of your fingerprints, it's the Bulldog-32. This gun is undetectable by even the best weapon detectors. It can be broken down into five pieces; a rocket launcher, a net launcher, a flamethrower, the freezing blast and last but not least, an arrow launcher with poison or explosive-tipped arrows. And of course, all the ammunition you will have to purchase separately from me."

Daisuke smiled in such a scornful way that Reiko was greatly tempted to try out the new weapon on him already. Maybe the freezing blast, it sounded neat anyway. "Pfft. What's so special about this gun? It's just like the others you've sold to me in the past."

"I'm not done yet. It features a 5000 round magazine; it has a "Replay" button that sends all shots to the same location. Oh, and it will self-destruct if you push the button underneath here."

"Hmm. Not bad, I guess. But I'm still using the SilverEdge as my main weapon so it doesn't really matter."

"Sticking to the old school, I see. What else do you need?"

Reiko gave it a moment of thought. "Maybe just some sleeping gas bombs, freezing traps and the assorted ammunition for my new toy."

"Your bill will be quite hefty today," Reiko was aware of his watchful eyes on her, most likely anticipating her to hit the ceiling like usual from hearing that.

To his surprise, she beamed at him with a false enthusiasm instead. "But it's my sixteenth birthday tomorrow! So shouldn't I get at least sixty percent off as a present?"

Daisuke turned his back to her without sparing her a glimpse. "No."

A moment of silence.

"You're heartless."

That offhand remark apparently offended him. Daisuke spun around and glowered, his lips thinned. Under normal situations, this man was good at holding his temper. It would take a _lot_ more from a person to try his patience even though Reiko seemed to have developed an unexplainable innate capacity to crawl under his skin almost every time she saw him.

"Is that so?" he taunted, flashing her his all too familiar 'I-will-make-you-eat-your-words' dirty look. "Then perhaps I will just sell your present that I've been preparing for months to another customer in queue. He's been dying for this new gadget anyway."

That caught Reiko's undivided attention. Her hands clapped once. "Aw! You actually remembered my birthday! That was very sweet of you!"

"Sweet? No. I was just informed that I am heartless. Sweet and heartless don't work together, honey."

"Stop with your jokes," Reiko laughed nervously. "You know I was just kidding around with you."

His brows shot up. "Do I? I just know you don't _ever _think before you open your mouth."

"Okay, okay. My apologies then," this was the second time today she had to give in to arrogant crocks. What was becoming of her dignified character? Or better question yet, what was up with her attracting egotistic males like a magnet? "So what is it?"

Disappointment marred her features when Daisuke passed over a charcoal ore that was no bigger than the size of a tennis ball. She hesitated, not knowing what to say as she could see no use for this besides launching it from a catapult to attack someone in the head instead.

"Uh... Interesting. But what is _this_?"

"It's an artificial intelligence device with a vast knowledge in almost everything and anything you would want to know. There are other features that come with it too but you can play around with it on your own time," he paused for a second. "I'm sure you will be very thankful for this gift I've specially made for you, Reiko."

Reiko blinked, her gut feeling instinctively told her there was something suspicious with that evil grin he had now. It had better not be a prank because she would return with a vengeance. A very messy one too.

"Wait a minute. So you're telling me this black metal ball is an A.I. Device? I find it hard to believe. Aren't you missing a screen here?"

Daisuke sighed in frustration as if it was an idiotic question. He made a rough grab for the ore from her hand and hid the device into the bag along with other merchandise she had requested, away from her prying eyes.

"You have to activate it first, genius. Just figure it out on your own."

"Fine," her focus soon was fixed on this new floral vase on the counter. Reiko was willing to bet anyone dollars to doughnuts it was an antique. It looked rather expensive too.

"Oh, and the most important thing. Here's your month's supply. Catch," Reiko caught the glass container in her hand with no effort. It was a bottle filled of blue capsule tablets. The very same medicine she had been relying on for the past two years to stay alive and kicking.

_Daisuke is already trying his best to help me. At least these pills can buy me more time for now so I can still do the things that I want to do in life, _she pondered darkly.

"Give me some more time, I will eventually find a cure," he tried to convince her as if he was able to read her thoughts. His expression softened at her and Reiko hated that. It actually ate her inside out to see others taking pity on her misfortune. No need for pity or sympathy. She was strong enough to handle the truth now, even if the truth was ugly.

"I know," Reiko just smiled and deliberately changed the sensitive topic. The possible short lifespan of hers was the last thing she would care enough to talk about for now. "Hey, any side jobs for me? I just bought a bike and that put a big hole in my wallet."

Daisuke regarded her with the sternness of a big brother. "You should take a break from work, Reiko. I can never understand your unhealthy obsession with money."

"You're kidding me? How else can I make back the money then? You do know that money doesn't grow on trees, right?"

"Then perhaps you should consider spending your money more _wisely_?" He stared at her new necklace. "That pendant around your neck looks costly."

Daisuke may be solemn and a little boring for her liking but he was probably the most ingenious and observant person Reiko had met. Her fingers involuntarily trailed the jewelery, embarrassed.

"This was a birthday gift from Reno," she confessed.

"Hm. Now this is an interesting turn of events," the heavy dose of sarcasm echoed across the room.

"Duh. You don't think you're the _only_ sweet guy alive on earth, do you?"

"I see. Then how are you two doing? And I mean in the romance department."

It was Reiko's turn to glare at him. Somewhere along the time, Daisuke seemed to have grown an exceptional fascination with _her_ love life. But she knew he was just trying to watch over her like a big brother and give her an attentive ear when she needed it. After all, he must have had more experiences than herself since he had just turned the dreaded three-O this year and meanwhile, Reiko had yet to even have her first kiss with a guy!

"We're fine."

His brows rose again. "Just fine? I assume that means that nothing has been happening so far?"

"And what do you suggest I do, Doctor Daisuke?" she challenged, her attention flew back to the transparent vase.

"Make a confession."

Reiko almost dropped the vase from her hands. Luckily she caught it with his back towards her. "_What?"_ She hissed the word.

"You've never struck me as the shy type who would hold back at what you want to say or do."

That was true. Reiko was someone who liked to speak her mind and not hold anything back usually. It was an admirable aspect of herself because she wouldn't beat around the bush like most women; but it was also quite detestable since she tended to speak a little _too_ boldly and ended up making herself a trail of enemies that way. She also felt that life was short, so why not strive harder to get your hands on things you really desire and leave no regrets in life?

Her brows knitted together. "But what? So I strike you as the lewd type with no shame?"

Daisuke pondered over that question. The corner of his mouth lifted in a ghost of a smirk. Reiko quickly interrupted him before he decided to answer. "Never mind. Don't answer, I don't want to know."

Reiko gazed down at the dangling pendant on her chest, a shaft of fluorescent light sparked off the colorful heart-shaped crystals. It was a stunning piece of jewelery, the type most people like Daisuke would gawk at, making her uncomfortable. A weary sigh escaped her lips as her mind shifted to Reno. They had known each other for almost two years, and yet she still wasn't sure where she stood with him. They hadn't been just friends for a long time now...at least that was not how she looked at things.

Their undefined relationship was a close one, much closer than what someone would typically call a friend. They had saved each other from trouble; they had stuck together through hard times; he had never failed to stay by her side and gave her support when she was in a foul mood. That was how things had been with them. But lately, her feelings towards him were confusing because she didn't know what to make of it. She was interested in him. At least she thought she was. She felt discomfort at his close proximity lately, which was something that had never been an issue between them either.

Though she was somewhat confident in her own feelings, she was terribly confused with his. At times, they shared long looks and brief touches that lingered longer than necessary, but never did he try to push for more. There seemed to be something holding him back, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Or perhaps she was reading too much into things?

Reiko didn't know anymore.

She had also lost count of the number of times she had been woken up in the middle of the night, thinking about this seesaw relationship of theirs. But it was really driving her crazy! She could see them being together because they already made a good team. There was simply no one whom they each trusted or confided in more than among each other. But she didn't want to put herself out there and be the one to make the first move and chase after him. Despite her tomboyish nature, she was still a girl at heart and wanted to feel needed, wanted, cherished. She wanted _him_ to chase her. But at this rate, nothing would ever come out of their relationship because their cat and mouse game didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"The cat seems to be interested in his prey but he's unwilling to make a catch. It's maddening," Reiko voiced out her inner thoughts with annoyance.

"What cat?" Daisuke broke into her contemplation. "I thought you _hated_ cats."

"Oh. Nothing," she mumbled under her breath.

"By the way, have you met the Queen's new guardian? He came by to the clinic the other day. He's not half bad looking. You can consider him since you guys will be working together soon anyway, especially if Reno is really out of the question for you. Though I must say, this guy seems to be completely out of your league."

Reiko grunted. "Oh yeah. Bouncing onto one guy after another like the kind of wench you've been portraying me as."

As if that was what she really needed at the moment. Another complicated non-reciprocated relationship that would no doubt only unnerve her more.

"Haven't you heard? The best way to get over a man is to get _under_ another man, as blunt as it may sound."

"You disgust me," she was grossed out. "It's late, I need to rest early and be prepared for tomorrow."

"Queen Gabriella is visiting the shrine again?"

She nodded, suddenly feeling fatigued. "Yeah. Her Majesty has been disturbed by this sense of unease for quite a while now. She claims it was a foreboding premonition of something disastrous that would befall upon Garnesia so she requested us to escort her to the shrine and pray for the citizens."

"The Queen is indeed a very noble woman. Most men pale in comparison to her great honors," he praised with this unreadable expression, his eyes seemed to be gazing into the invisible world. When Reiko realized he had yet to blink, she began to wonder what in hell was wrong with him. She waved her hand in front of his nose. That was when there was the flicker of his eyes.

"You're in a trance or something?" she teased.

He made a scoffing sound of exasperation, "I thought you said you're leaving? Get going already."

Reiko picked up the bag of merchandise, grinning. "Daisuke, being the _generous kind-hearted soul_ that you are...sixty percent off?"

"No."

"Fifty?"

"No."

"...Forty?"

"No."

"Oh come on! How about thirty five?"

"How about no."

She squinted at him. "Whatever, put it on my tab then."

Daisuke glared back with equal peevishness but said nothing. That was his answer already.

"... You are _really_ heartless."

"I know. So I have been told twice today already."

**X X X**

It was barely the crack of dawn. Reiko and Reno, along with two other guardians hit the trail by foot early and escorted the Queen to the neighboring sole archaic shrine. The sanctum was always a mysterious place housed the gravel statues of the four Gods; Genbu, Baykko, Seriyuu and Suzaku, but decades of unused left it a mess. Even the isolated path to the sacred place was barred with tall trees and nestled bushes. Regular worshipers had ceased their devotional visits nowadays as Garnesia had been keeping the peace with the outside world for centuries. It had once been a proud building that haphazardly rambled across the land, its halls like a maze. It had been a place with secrets – even from the beginning.

Carrying the bag of weapons, Reiko stifled a sleepy yawn and forced her dopey eyes to stay open. She had always been a nocturnal creature and was unable to hit the sack until the nightfall almost settled. Recently she had been improving somewhat in her sleeping habits, but sleep still did not come easily for her at night. Perhaps it was the emptiness of the house she lived in, once housing a loving family, now only inhabited by her. It elicited a sense of loneliness that was usually easily ignored when in the presence of others, where her sunny disposition naturally shined through. But in the cold of the night, her mind couldn't help but race and remember all the thoughts and feelings she worked so hard to hide from everyone. This in turn made her unable to function in the mornings.

"Slept late again?" Reiko turned to look at Mylene. Her glances shifted to Reno and Mylene's older brother, Damon who were both walking ahead of the group, then settled back to the taller girl next to herself.

"I was honestly tempted to knock myself out cold last night so I could get some _decent_ rest. But in the end, I'm just too afraid of the pain."

Mylene laughed. "You look like an escapee. So what exactly happened at Daisuke's place yesterday?"

"I broke a vase," Reiko said morosely. "Daisuke screamed and I ran out."

It was an accident, not the childish stunt that he had accused Reiko of. It was an honest mistake and she didn't want to think about it or bring it up into the conversation anymore. Just thinking about his petty nature made her certain there was going to be hell to pay after today. An involuntary shiver crawled up her spine.

"You broke a vase, eh? Was it parapraxis?"

"Parap-what?" Reiko blinked in a daze. "Is that even a _real_ word?"

"It's a psychology term. A minor error in actions or thoughts supposedly the result of repressed impulses." Queen Gabriella's unexpected explanation caught Reiko off guard.

She cringed back a little, deeply embarrassed that she was the only clueless one. Although if Reiko was honest with herself, she was not as well-read and educated as the others. So of course she was no match in wits with the Queen or even Mylene.

"Oh. No wonder Daisuke thought I broke his vase intentionally. He probably thought I was upset that he didn't give me a discount."

Mylene laughed again. "You do seem like the spiteful type of girl."

"Daisuke is a very respectable doctor with rich intelligence. Not only does he show commendable care to his patients but his expertise in weapons and armor benefit Garnesia greatly too."

"Your Majesty...please don't ever praise that man when he's around. Otherwise he will be on a world-class ego trip." Reiko shuddered at the thought of Daisuke's smug smirks.

"Reiko," Smiling, the Queen spoke again. "I regret that I have taken up your time on your birthday. I'm sure you have plans to celebrate, yet I must trouble you for this task as there are few people I can entrust this to."

Such gentle words and kindness was something that Gabriella was known for. At twenty eight years old she was the youngest empress in history, who ascended to the throne after her father, the late King Radek had been murdered mysteriously ten years ago. She was recognized by her striking beauty and known as one of the most attractive women in the country. With her long auburn hair and deep viridian eyes, and her slender and curvaceous figure, it wasn't hard to understand why many men looked her way when she passed them by. Most impressive of all, she had a brilliant mind to go along with her looks which just seemed almost too good to be true. Just like the meaning of her name, Gabriella was a true heroine of God.

"Please don't worry about it, Ma'am. It is my honor to serve and repay you for the benevolence you've been showing me. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am right now."

A memory flashed through her mind as she remembered that horrific day. She could still recall the screams of pain, the smell of blood, and the gentle touch of the woman before her. She would always be grateful and indebted to Gabriella for her rescue that day, and Reiko's loyalty had only strengthened through the past two years as she saw first-hand what a wonderful ruler she was.

"Your Majesty, arrangements have been made for the ceremony in ten days. Calanior is ready to sign the peace treaty with us," Mylene informed.

She was pleased to hear the news. "After years of hostility with each other, we can finally form an alliance and work together."

While the Queen and Mylene were engaged in their political discussion, Reiko decided to pace ahead since the art and science of administration of government was not her field of studies. She stole a peek at Reno from ahead, who had been more sullen and uncommunicative than ever before. Reiko couldn't shake off the alarmed feeling about his strange behavior that had persisted the last few days. Reno seemed like he was trying to hide something from the eyes of the world, even her. But why would Reno hide anything from her? Where was the trust she thought he had in her?

Reiko wanted to pull her hair out in frustration.

Giving herself a mental shake, she wiped away those feelings and caught up until she was moving next to Reno. She patted him on the shoulder once. Reno only gave her a fleeting look, his expression was a stoic one. Damon, who had a mind as sharp as a steel trap decided to give them both some space and time alone.

"I will join Her Majesty and Mylene, they seem to be having an interesting conversation going on," Damon notified, winking at Reiko quickly before moving away. She was grateful of his subtle act because otherwise there was no possible way Reiko would confront Reno.

"Okay. Now is the time to spill the beans, Reno" She began and had to quicken her steps in order to meet Reno's long strides.

His concentration was fastened to the road ahead. "What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about your silence. Why do you seem so detached today? Did something happen?"

The lasting delay of his reply only heightened her worries. For the briefest of moments, she could have sworn she was _that _close to pulling out her IcyBlade and held it right next to his neck until he was willing to confess everything to sate her eager curiosity.

"Reiko," he finally began. "What would happen if one day, you realize I am not who I really am?"

Worry and perplexity clouded her brows. Of all the thinkable scenarios that have been dancing around her mind, this was definitely not one of them. "If you're not who you are then...who can you be?"

"What if I'm your enemy?" Reno asked, finally turning to face her. Startlingly yet troubled emerald, his eyes gazed into hers with such disturbing intensity. In that instant, she was again at a loss for words. "Will you draw your blade and fight me with no mercy? Or will you have enough forbearance in your soul to forgive me?"

It took Reiko a long moment to suppress the fearful feeling amplifying in her heart. She had never seen him behaving like this before. The strange words he spoke or the unreadable expression he had now didn't help to calm her down either. She was rattled.

"What are you talking about? Reiko hesitated.

"Reiko, please remember I will never do anything to hurt you intentionally, even if it's against my own will." Before she could push for more clarity, Damon's voice caught her attention.

"Your Majesty, would you like to make a stop here and rest before we continue?" Damon asked.

The Queen shook her head. "I am fine, please do not concern yourself with me. We must continue to move forward."

"Wait, Ma'am," Mylene suddenly shot out an arm before the Queen in a defensive pose. "I sense the presence of other auras nearby."

"I do too," said Damon, the sibling's senses on high alert. Reiko faintly felt it too. She would have picked up on it even earlier if it wasn't for her sidetracked thoughts. The aura was concentrated together so she could not tell how many there were, but collectively they were powerful – much more powerful than she thought they could handle... and they were approaching at a very rapid speed.

"That is very astute of you," the deep, sinister laugh echoed across the surroundings before they could even see the person.

Without a moment's notice, turquoise light shimmered into existence. Three shadows emerged from the empty air before their eyes.

_The Darenarc warriors, _Reiko frowned, a grave sense of trepidation washing over her.

The enemy nation had always been thirsting for Garnesia's power and the size of territory. For the past year, matters had escalated when rumors had it that there was a prophecy proclaiming in the far future, one distinguished kingdom would be predominating over the others on earth.

As power loving as the King of Darenarc was, he had chosen himself to be the believed world leader mentioned in the delusive vision. He had been throwing his empire into mindless wars for domination with other realms across the continents. However, he had been holding back from attacking Garnesia, since the country's military forces and resources was vastly greater than its neighboring countries.

But that was not the sole reason for his reluctance. It was by virtue of the powerful barriers Gabriella had managed to shield Garnesia with, sheltering the territory from outside danger. But for these minions to be able to past through them without exposure spoke volumes of their innate abilities.

_How did they break through the invisible barriers? _Reiko asked herself.

"Of course we have our way," the redhead female's intrusive voice cut through her private thoughts, scrutinizing her in a weird way.

Reiko gave a snort of ridicule. "So you can read minds, big deal. What do you people want?"

"Is that so hard to figure out, little girl?" the leader of the group taunted, the rest laughed.

"You three have just trespassed the frontier of Garnesia without consent. I suggest you leave now if you know what's good for yourself," Damon ordered with composure.

"That's big talk for someone who's outnumbered," said the biggest member of the group, his hulking frame easily towering over the group.

"Four on four, not exactly lopsided is it?" asked Reiko, a smirk playing on her lips. "We've gotten out of more difficult situations before."

"Reno, stay back and guard the Queen," a calm Damon ordered as he ran towards the largest of the group.

"I have a feeling today will be different," said the third member of the Darenarc group, his words bringing a sense of foreboding to Reiko, though she could not place why.

Before she could scrutinize the group further, the redheaded one dashed forward at her. With wide eyes Reiko barely brought her weapon up in time to parry the horizontal swing to her neck. Sparks flew as steel met steel, and Reiko grit her teeth at the surprising power the woman before her displayed. Planting her left foot behind her and pushing the redhead's sword away, she used the momentum of the push to turn her body in a complete circle and swung up across the redhead's torso. Her attack was met with nothing but air however as her opponent jumped back and got into a low stance.

"Impressive, you're not as inept as you appear to be," said the woman before her. "Maybe I shouldn't hold back then."

"Hah! They all say that! Come up with something more original you-!"

Reiko's words were cut off as once again the redhead went on the offensive, this time taking to the air in a long leap, her sword poised as she came down towards Reiko. With a small smile at her easy to read attack, Reiko held her weapon low to the ground. What happened next Reiko couldn't tell, but it seemed like the woman had somehow increased her speed while coming down from mid-air.

It was all she could do to bring up her weapon to block the heavy swing, and she felt her legs shake from the impact. The woman pulled her weapon away and swung at Reiko in a series of attacks, with Reiko parrying and counter-attacking when possible, neither of them gaining the upper hand. As Reiko met her blow for blow, her mind drifted to wonder how the others were doing with the other three members of the Darenarc fighters.

In that moment of slipping in concentration, she swung a bit too widely with her sword and allowed her opponent to slip under and slam the hilt of her sword into Reiko's gut. Gasping from having the wind knocked out of her, Reiko couldn't lift her arms to stop the arc of the sword coming down towards her head. Closing her eyes and bracing herself for the sweet death that she knew was upon her.

_This can't be the end..._ Reiko thought darkly.

"Stop," ordered a calm and familiar voice, the tone commanding and cold. "We've got what we came for, we don't need to take unnecessary lives."

A feeling of dread washed over Reiko as she opened her eyes to a sight she thought she would never have imagined. Damon was still and unmoving, no doubt held back by the very sight that frightened her to her core. Reno was behind the queen, his gun pointed to her. There was an impassive look on his face as if his current position was nothing out the ordinary.

Reiko's heart throbbed and her muscles felt formless. Her eyes wide opened in an utter horror.

"Reno?...What are you doing...?" her shaking voice was barely a whisper as she felt her throat close up.

He was speechless. But the guilt-ridden look in Reno's eyes had forced her to succumb to the despairing truth. The truth that her closest friend – the man whom she believed she had fallen in love with, was now standing behind the enemy line and crossing paths with her.

He had betrayed her.

"Reno! Release Queen Gabriella right now!" Damon had lost his cool now.

Even while standing at the wrong end of a gun, her life hanging by only a thread, Gabriella still remained peaceful. "Why are you doing this? Do you have any idea what would become of Garnesia and the lives of many innocence if Darenarc invades our nation?"

"I'm sorry, your Majesty. I would not do this if I was given a choice, but sometimes fate has its own plans for all of us." Reno's voice soft and full of regrets and remorse.

"The three of you drop your weapons _now_!" The apparent leader ordered, still panting on the ground.

Marlene and Damon looked at each other, then complied. But Reiko stood her ground. She could only stare at Reno in horror.

"I said drop your weapon! Otherwise she will die a slow and painful death!"

She ignored the menace behind the snarled words.

"Reno, please don't hurt the Queen. She is our _only_ hope for the future of Garnesia. Please don't do this." His sad gaze only tightened Reiko's airways more.

"Your father will be waiting for your return after this mission, Reno," the redhead prompted. "Don't disappoint him."

"Follow your father's orders! Kill Gabriella now!"

"Don't do it!" Marlene shouted.

"Kill her now or else we will all die here!"

"Reno, let the Queen go this instant and we promise to let you all leave here alive!"

"Don't listen to him! They will kill all of us once you release her!"

"Reno," redhead called out. "Take out Gabriella so Darenarc can restore its former glory!"

"JUST KILL HER!"

"Reno! NO!"

Voices clamored, anger arose. The raging turmoil died at the sound of a single gunshot.

Reiko saw the blood spewing from her savior's chest. She saw the victim's face, frozen into a twisted mask of death, collapsing before their eyes.

_Gabriella's face. Gabriella's blood._

A cry of pain sawed through the sky, shattering it. Her own cry, Reiko realized, clutching to her middle. Gabriella. Dead. Murdered.

In the next split second, a glaring radiance erupted from Gabriella's lifeless form, blinding all by the intensity of mixed lights. The invisible blast of energy threw Reiko backward into the air and she fell over. Panicked, Reiko shielded her face from the flare of light with her hand. The sound of a roaring wind hammered at her brain before complete darkness and deafening silence claimed her world.

**X X X**

Colorful stars clouded her vision when Reiko tried to crack her eyelids open and she had to shut them close again. Her mind was still a foggy haze from awakening but she was aware of herself resting on soft, cool grass now. Her entire body somehow ached in pain, especially the back of her head. Why was she feeling sore? What had happened...?

Then it all rushed back to her in a wave of dread. Being ambushed on their way to the shrine. Fighting a redheaded woman. Reno holding Gabriella hostage. Then... Reno... Reno killed the Queen... and bright lights broke through her vision, knocking her back with a crushing force...after that...and after that...

But her scattered thoughts were soon interrupted. To her surprise, she felt someone was yanking at her clothes. What the hell! Startled, Reiko flung her eyes wide open and found herself staring right into another pair of unique amber eyes, studying her face close up. _Way too close_.

There was two beats of silence as their gazes locked with each other. Then...

_SLAP._

The forceful sound of flesh connecting with flesh pierced through the quietness and echoed into the wild. The man instantly stumbled backward and fell on his bottom as a result of the unexpected blow and shock. Reiko took the chance to force herself to sit up but immediately regretted doing so when the immense pain and dizziness intensified.

_Damn._

"Wh-What the hell did you do that for?" The man shouted in obvious anger, his hand rubbing his now reddened cheek.

His voice was so noisy and annoying. It hurt Reiko's head even more. She finally looked up and realized the pervert was actually a young man, maybe older than Reiko by a year or two. His set of strong jaw and long slim face covered with bangs of his rare flamed-colored hair.

Fury surged through her now. "What do _YOU_ think you're doing, pervert!"

Reiko consciously made an adjustment to her clothes and wrapped her long, sleeveless sweater duster coat up to her neck, concealing her body from his peeping eyes. How ironic. A man with his looks should have a mountain of girls flocking to his feet, but what do you know? No wonder people said you can't judge a book by its cover. That was just too true.

She watched as his expression transformed from complete shock to wordless disbelief, and at last, pure rage.

"You wench! If it wasn't for me, you would have been eaten alive by these two other thugs!"

Reiko couldn't even make out his loud words. Her only awareness was on the severe pain at the back of her skull that was killing her. Did she hit her head from before? She was surprised to find the sun was already setting as the sky was draped in a soft orange-golden blanket.

_How long have I been out cold?_ She mentally asked herself, her eyes automatically exploring the remote environment. Wasn't she at the pathway to the sacred place last? That was the only route too, but now she was sitting at this plain field with a...forest to her right. A forest?

"Where am I?" Reiko wondered out loud.

"Did you hit your head or something? You're at the border of Konan, obviously!"

_Konan?_

Reiko frowned hard as her mind began the slow process of contemplation. Why did the foreign name sound so familiar? Hm... Konan. Where had she heard of the name before? For sure the headache wasn't helping either. If only Daisuke was here to take care of her headache then maybe she could...

_Wait a minute...!_

Reiko jumped on the still scowling man. Both of her hands made a rough grab of his coat and hauled him close to her. "What did you just say!"

"Wh-what...?" His eyes budged out, clearly dumbfounded.

"Repeat what you just said!" Reiko shook him violently.

"D-did you hit your head!"

"Not that! The last part of it! What did you say!" Reiko shook him repeatedly, increasing the force each time. Her patience was wearing thin.

"I said you are at the border of Konan! Now quit pawing me!" He pried her fingers loose and quickly pulled away from her as if she had the plague. "Are you out of your crazy mind, you dumb girl?..."

Reiko couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. Her hands tightened into fists as she tried to calm her increased breathing, but it didn't work. Her blurred gaze rested on the man before her. He wore a pair of dark beige pants with tall black traveling boots, a long navy trench coat, tacky earrings and necklaces... Everything about him appeared to be out of style and behind the times. Could it really be...?

_NO WAY! _Her brain screamed. _It can't be! This has got to be a joke!_

Stunned, Reiko jumped up and raced into the open field without having a direction in mind. The wilderness air was warm and sultry, with the usual tang of wood and the scent of verdant flowers. She kept running and running until she wound up at the edge of the steep cliff. Reiko stood her ground, gulping in deep hasty breaths as she felt her stomach plummet at the sight before her. The unfamiliar view of the ancient town miles ahead stood proudly before her eyes. Konan.

It was really Konan.

The southern country of ancient China.

Swift footsteps advanced hurriedly from behind before the young man came into sight. He went up to her but Reiko didn't budge. Suddenly strength seemed to be drained from her soul. Her knees buckled and she dropped to the grass.

"Oi... what's wrong with you?" there was a hint of worry in the tone.

"This...can't be true," Reiko's voice came out softer than a whisper. "No... no...! This is _not_ possible."

"What?" He edged closer but Reiko was oblivious for her mind was too overwhelmed.

"How did this even happen...? It can't be true!"

But it was true. She knew deep inside, what she had always thought was scientifically impossible, what she had thought was only a fable, a fairy tale that served as bedtime story for children only, was unmistakably, absolutely, genuinely happening right before her horrified eyes. The terrifying truth began to ring like a bell through her head, ricocheting with increasing velocity, the effect on her shattering as realization dawned on her.

_She had been sent into the world of The Universe of Four Gods ._

**X X X**


	2. Chapter 2: Strange Circumstances

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fushigi Yuugi. This amazing anime was created by Yuu Watase. I only created Reiko and I'm proud of her!

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**

**A Kiss of Fate**

**By: Sweet DayDreamer**

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**

**Chapter 2: Strange Circumstances.**

Sweat rolled down Genrou's forehead, dripping in his eyes and momentarily blurring his vision. Using the sleeve of his coat, he wiped his brow. Although he had promised himself he wouldn't, his mind already craved for a nice warm bottle of sake.

_After tonight,_ he reminded himself.

After he successfully reclaimed the rightful title as the chief bandit of Mount Reikaku then he could get drunk with his steadfast buddies once again like there was no tomorrow! So he only needed to wait out half the day. He could endure that. With a renewed sense of purpose, he picked up his pace and headed towards the direction of Mount Reikaku.

That bastard Eiken surely had balls the size of grapefruits to claim himself as the leader after their late boss, Hakurou had succumbed to his abrupt illness and passed away. "That son of a bitch!" he cursed between clenched teeth. But at the same time, Genrou felt so guilt-ridden for all that had happened he almost could not face his fellow comrades. Eiken wouldn't have gotten the lucky chance to take advantage of the situation if Genrou was more on-guard and had not taken leave to look for a cure. Or if he had only returned sooner with the wanted medicine then maybe Hakurou would still have been around today.

But it was too late now.

Unlike Genrou's biological father, who lived out his entire life as a coward and allowed women to trample all over him without so much as even raising his voice back, Hakurou had the completely opposite frame of mind. Genrou clearly recalled the fateful day when he had finally summoned enough courage to run away from his miserable family of seven only to chance on the most respectable mentor he ever had. He had been thirteen at the time and joined the leader of Mount Reikaku to become a fearsome bandit like many others. Genrou was taught to fight and even mastered the use of the leader's weapon, Tessen into his combat style. The first fight, the one that he had obviously lost to Hakurou, had given him determination. Perhaps he had not only been Genrou's mentor but also a father figure, which would explain why there was always a need for Genrou to prove himself over and over. And slowly he began to win more fights than he lost.

"Be brave," Hakurou had said, the way he always did when Genrou needed comfort. "You're my stand-up guy, remember?"

Now with Hakurou gone, the very least Genrou could do to repay this man for his years of kindness was to become the rightful leader and take a care of his fellow members. He knew that would have been his mentor's last wish as well. That of course involved teaching Eiken a painful lesson and kicking his fat ass. But that might be a problem in itself since that bastard held the powerful Tessen in his possession now. His heart pounded rapidly from agitation just thinking of having to _wrestle_ the weapon out of Eiken's flabby arms.

He pivoted into the clear field of the forest. This afternoon was proving to be the longest of his life. Genrou cursed, wondering if all this waiting would make him lose his edge. He thrived on action, danger. Waiting just wasn't his style, but he supposed it came with territory. Kouji and other loyal bandits would have formed a mutiny if it weren't for the Tessen and who knows how many had already bent to Eiken's dirty bribery. Unfortunately with so little he could do by himself, Genrou would have to wait until after dark if he wanted a victorious ambush. He lifted his head to observe the wilderness, where he had always held a sense of belonging. That was when he saw two suspicious looking men from the corner of his eyes. Since they were out in the middle of the forest, he instinctively felt that these guys were probably up to no good.

_Mind your own business! You have other important things to deal with_, was what his brain told him. Sadly without exception, his body had a mind of its own and did the exact opposite. Like a phantom wolf, Genrou silently and quickly stole his way between the tall bushes and tucked away behind a gigantic tree. To his surprise, the men were actually hovering over an unconscious girl, tugging at her clothes. This was where he should have just turned a blind eye to what was happening and minded his own business for he had a paramount obligation to take care of. But Genrou wouldn't be Genrou if he wouldn't take on vermin even when he wasn't directly threatened!

He walked out into the plain view and glowered above them, his hands placed on his hips. "What the hell are you idiots doing?"

Terrified by his sudden entrance, the men jumped a foot away. But their fright only lasted a few seconds before they recovered from their panic. "None of your damn business! Back off already, boy!" One of them shouted.

"Hah! And what if I refuse? What can morons like you do?" Genrou challenged. He had been itching for a fist fight to work out his bottled up anger the entire afternoon. Now was the perfect chance as these idiots just gave him a fitting excuse to shove his fists up their asses.

"We'll beat the crap out of you until you learn to keep your nose out of our business!" The man barked and lunged at Genrou. Oh yeah! A good old fashioned brawl was just what he needed right now!

Genrou ducked under the first swing of the man's fist with ease, sweeping his leg out to trip the man down. He sighed as he realized that this would actually be a boring fight if his opponents were all this inept and slow. Not giving the other man any time to get up, he swiftly kicked the man in the jaw to knock him out. Turning to look at the other man he saw a knife in his hand that he held out in front of him.

"Why can't you mind your own business?" he snarled. "She's fair game! We got here first, find your own girl!"

"I'm not pathetic like you two," said Genrou, a cold tone in his voice. What happened next, his opponent wouldn't be able to recall for sure when he woke up. One minute he was stabbing and thrusting his knife at Genrou's neck, the next minute his knife was on the ground when the man felt a searing pain from his elbow down as it was shattered under the pressure of Genrou's fist. His scream of pain was cut short as a high kick to his temple put him down along with his other unfortunate partner.

"What a bunch of losers," Genrou spat on their unconscious bodies.

Remembering the girl was still out cold, Genrou swiftly moved to her side. A throaty growl escaped his lips as series of imaginable scenarios that were likely to have followed romping through his head. Who knows what sad tragedy would have been bestowed upon her if he hadn't happened to pass by the secluded forest. He hated to admit it but truth be told, they were presently living in the era of war and corruption. During his years in Mount Reikaku, he had seen more than his fair share of criminal acts, rape, abduction and trafficking of young girls to brothels. Although Genrou was a bandit who lived his life on the edge, he had never once carried out any act that would violate his own sense of honor. He still had his morals despite what the outside world might have thought of him. So this girl was actually damn lucky considering there were a number of less fortunate women out there who all had once wished someone would have come to their rescue too.

Crouching low, he studied her face. She wore no makeup and her long raven lock hung passed her chest. High cheekbones and a patrician nose offset by rosy lips that were – Genrou kicked himself when he realized what word he was actually thinking – _kissable_. Her lower lip was a little too full for perfection, but the hell of it was that was what made her mouth so appealing. Giving himself a mental shake, Genrou's eyes traveled down to inspect her unmoving form. Those assholes had been trying to strip her. Really, what was the exact appeal in this? Not that he was an expert himself in this field, but part of the fun was when you got a reaction out of the girl, no? Besides it being wrong, it was just really _boring_ to take a girl like that.

He began fixing her clothes...or at least it was a worthy attempt on his behalf. Awkwardness unnerved him big time. When was the last time he had been in such close proximity to another woman besides his busty mother and five rowdy older sisters years ago? The bandits' stronghold was and had always been packed with rugged men only with no women prancing around in the background shrieking at the top of their lungs or crying over their hair and makeup. For that reason alone, he could comfortably call Mount Reikaku his home for the past half decade. Sure there were many times his buddies would call for _special services_ and bring prostitutes back to the stronghold. But Genrou had never once showed a bit of interest. Some had even gone so far and questioned his sexuality because of his lack of excitement for sex. It was not that he wasn't attracted to women – on the contrary, Genrou could think of a half-dozen women who would be thrilled to accommodate him but he just found women to be a burden, and so none of them held any appeal.

He looked down at his slightly trembling fingers while still struggling to adjust her clothes and cursed under his breath. The girl's strange garments weren't much of a help either. The outfit was a long, sleeveless silvery-hued coat that was made from unusually soft yet slightly fuzzy fabric he had never seen or felt before. She was also wearing matching colored arm warmers, a black top that seemed to be secured with a flimsy string from behind the neck and across her back, yet her arms, shoulders, upper back and even midriff seemed bare. The ebony skirt was so short that it hardly covered her upper thighs and seemed rather indecent compared to what females would normally wear. The pair of black boots was also made from foreign material he was unfamiliar with as well. Dear gods, what on earth was she wearing? Her eccentric attire was simply too scandalous and revealing for his taste. Judging from her oddly improper outfit, he was almost cocksure that she was an escort from some neighboring brothel. She began to stir slowly at last, whimpering a low moan.

_About damn time for her to wake up, _he pondered with growing annoyance, still battling to button up her outfit. Where the hell was the fastening to this coat anyway? The girl's eyes were suddenly wide open. They were an unusual vibrant shade of violet with thick lashes and delicate brows that flared upward. Their gazes collided, hitting Genrou unexpectedly like a sucker punch in the gut. Her face was bordering on an expression of confusion and...terror? It was understandable even if she was freaked though, especially after she was almost raped-

_SLAP!_

Genrou's head was snapped to the side from the sudden blow to his face. A low humming noise vibrated in his ear as he reeled backward from the forceful impact. He was convinced of the red hand imprint on his cheek right now as that side of his face burned. However, Genrou couldn't feel the biting sting to his flesh, he was too shocked to register it. The girl bolted upright and grimaced from apparent pain.

"Wh-What the hell did you do that for?" He shouted with a scowl. What did he do to deserve a slap to his face! This runt had better come up with a _good_ explanation before he decided to rouse the unconscious men so that they could continue to have their way with her. And of course he would sure as hell turn a blind eye to her this time!

"What do _YOU_ think you're doing, pervert!"

Wh-what! Wait a minute! Did she just call _him_ a pervert? _HIM_? Genrou was too stunned for words. She made an exaggerating adjustment to her outfit and wrapped herself up in from of him. Holy shit! She mistook him as one of the sickening bastards who were trying to molest her while she passed out! Of all the possible things he could have been accused of...just which part of him looked like a _rapist_? It would have been an understatement to say that women would normally flock to Genrou and pile themselves at his feet if he ever wanted sex. There was absolutely, absolutely no way in hell he would ever force himself on a helpless woman, especially not when she was dead to the world! His fury surfaced like a violent storm.

"You wench! If it wasn't for me, you would have been eaten alive by these two other thugs!" he barked, bringing his fist up. In response to his uproar, she stared up at the sky instead, appearing to be confused and lost in thought. In other words, she was completely ignoring him. For some reason, that infuriated Genrou even more. "Hey! Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!"

"Where am I?" she whispered.

He was pretty sure that question wasn't addressed to him, surely not when this stupid girl saw him as a pervert and a rapist even. "Did you hit your head or something? You're at the border of Konan, obviously!" Just why couldn't he keep his mouth shut...?

There was a long moment of silence while she was daydreaming. _Maybe she really did hit her head, _he decided since he was short of logical answers for her bizarre behavior. The next moment totally caught Genrou off guard though, both mentally and physically, when the girl pounced on him. Her fingers clutched his coat and she pulled him forcibly forward until their faces were only a fraction apart. They were so close that he caught a sweet florid scent emanating from her body. He involuntarily sucked in his breath.

"What did you just say?" she demanded, frantic with worry.

She was really _scaring_ him now. "Wh-what...?"

"Repeat what you just said!" She rocked him with such powerful force that he didn't know a girl of her tiny stature could possibly possess. Genrou was shaken so violently that he was sure his head would snap off his neck at any moment.

"D-did you hit your head?"

"Not that! The last part of it! What did you say!"

"I said you are at the border of Konan! Now quit pawing me!" He mustered enough strength to pry her solidly clenched fingers loose and immediately leaped away from her. What the fuck, man! Had he rescued a crazy prostitute? "Are you out of your crazy mind, you dumb girl?"

A moment passed as she just stared at him – or through him – with glazed, intense eyes filled with emotions he didn't understand. His breath stalled in his throat; he didn't dare to move a muscle in case she wanted to hurt him again. Finally she jumped up, breaking into a sprint and ran off.

There were two beats of silence.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Genrou exclaimed at last, clearly dumbfounded and wondered if he should chase her.

On the one hand, he had just saved her from being robbed and raped, but in return, she had just hit him for saving her from being robbed and raped. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair in annoyance as he thought more about their brief encounter. While it was true she had hit him, he could also see how it might have looked like from her point of view when she woke up (but it was still unforgivable!). And there was something she also seemed to be confused about. Why did it frighten her so much that she was in Konan? It was not like Konan was a cesspool for criminals. He couldn't figure out why she was acting so strangely, but he did know one thing – he shouldn't just let her wander off on her own. She wasn't weak certainly (as his aching cheek reminded him quite painfully of that fact), but she certainly did seem lost. For all his brashness, Genrou was never one to leave a helpless girl to fend for herself. Even girls who were as troublesome and annoying as her. With that thought in mind, he ran off in the direction he saw her headed, hoping to catch up before he lost sight of her.

Genrou found her standing before the cliff, wearing the same troubled expression from earlier. An impetuous speculation sprung to his mind at once. _What if something horrible had already happened before he ran into her? And now maybe with the thought of having no hope and nothing else left in life, she wants_ _to end her misery...? _He thought frustratingly, feeling somewhat disturbed. The rapid tempo of his breathing startled Genrou as he raced up to her, worried stiff that she might jump off that cliff. But to his surprise (in a positive way this time), the girl stood her ground. Just when he came close, she suddenly dropped to the grass.

"Oi...what's wrong with you?" he asked, her action was really concerning.

"This...can't...no...not possible," she mumbled almost inaudibly, a look of pure fear etched across her paled face. She seemed oblivious to his presence.

"What?" he inched closer so he could hear her whispers better.

"How did this even happen...? It can't be true!" she sounded very upset, desperate. Her anguished voice only reinforced his belief that something traumatizing had happened to her. Genrou had seen enough women suffer similar painful experiences. They all wound up entering into the whole complex period of irrational behavior and emotional instability. He knew that much of it. The grave sense of defeat trampled him. Genrou wasn't quite sure of how he could help her. Damn it! Now the only thing he was left to do was to figure out what he should do with this escaped prostitute…

**X X X**

The table was dead quiet save for the occasional clanking of utensils. Genrou ate his meal in uncomfortable silence while the girl, Reiko, simply stared down on the untouched plate of food. Both were speechless as neither wanted to comment on the ridiculous talk they had moments ago. The two shared similar expressions of unease but for vastly different reasons.

"I know it's a lot to take in but..." Reiko was the first to break the awkward silence. "I don't want you to think I'm crazy."

Genrou didn't think it. Hell, he was _convinced_ that she was a first-class crackpot. He tried. He had honestly tried but when he listened to her elaborate story about her origins, he had to pinch himself on the thigh to prevent himself from cracking up with amusement. It was so obvious she was suffering from some sort of trauma and she needed help as soon as possible. She may have been crazy, but that didn't mean that he didn't sympathize with whatever it was that made her this way. Her story of being some elite protector (what kind of warrior dresses like a whore anyway?) complete with a non-existent empress, and all these fantasized countries that he had never even heard of (and that he doubted existed) was just entirely too far-fetched. This girl did get points for creativity though, he would give her that much.

"No, I don't think you're crazy at all," he said with a forced smile as his mind screamed _I_ _just think you're bat-shit insane!_

"If you don't think I'm crazy then why do you have that look on your face?" she asked with narrowed eyes, crossing her arms under her breasts and pushing them that much further out of her black shirt. Genrou stifled a groan at the unintentional peep show she was giving him. She may have been comfortable with this level of undress, but he sure as hell wasn't.

"No, you just seem to be a little lost," he began, trying to keep his eyes from the ample amount of cleavage that she was showing. "But I know someone who can help you find your way home."

"Really?" Her violet eyes lit up as she leaned over the table excitedly, breaking into a first beaming smile that could melt your heart. It was also the complete reversal of her grouchy attitude. Her unpredictable mood swing spooked Genrou greatly.

"Yeah, we can go whenever you like," he said with a dismissing wave of his hand. "It's not that far from here, just a short walk down the street even."

"But wait a second. Who is this guy? And how can he help me return to my own time? Does he have some sort of special powers?"

"He's an expert in helping people with strange situations very much like yours," Genrou lied. But it wasn't a complete lie since this man they were about to meet was known to be one of the best doctors available who treated the mentally ill.

"Sounds great! Well, then what are we waiting for?" she asked bubbling with enthusiasm, once again an unnatural sight considering her earlier behavior. She grabbed his hand and dragged him forcefully from the table with the same surprising strength. Genrou barely had enough time to throw a few coins on to the table to pay for the meal as his arm was nearly yanked out of its socket in her haste to leave.

"Oi! Slow down a bit, will you?" he snapped angrily, pulling his hand free from her iron grip. Genrou gave a rub to his shoulder in annoyance. He wasn't sure if he preferred her sour attitude or her happy one. Both were nothing but violence and trouble. "You don't even know where we're going. Follow me."

He walked off in the opposite direction without turning to make sure she followed. As they walked down the market district he couldn't help noticing the stares the two of them were getting, mostly from men with lecherous looks crossing their faces. Not that he blamed any of the locals, he would've been staring too if he were in their shoes. It wasn't everyday you saw someone walk down the street with his whore in broad daylight dressed for bed! He cast a look at his runaway companion and noticed that she wearing a self-conscious expression.

_Strange_, he thought to himself. _I would've expected her to be used to the perverted looks she's getting by now._

With a shrug, he turned back towards the road, not picking up on the increasingly uncomfortable look that Reiko was sporting. She unknowingly paced closer to Genrou while she attracted more and more attention to herself. They arrived in front of a small tidy hut that seemed to be well-maintained if the fauna and clean grounds were anything to go by.

"Here we are," said Genrou as he turned around to look at Reiko, just in time to have her collide into his chest. She yelped in surprise and landed painfully on her butt. "Hey, watch where you're going! I said follow me, not walk into me!"

"Me? You just suddenly stopped!" she retorted as she hastily got up and brushed the back of her skirt off, unaware that the gesture only served to hike up her skirt even further. The action wasn't unnoticed by the males who was watching her every move and several crashes were heard as some of them weren't paying attention to where they were going. Genrou groaned in frustration, throwing a hand to his face. He wondered if she was doing this on purpose or if she was really that unaware of what she was doing. Women, go figure.

"Whatever, let's go before you cause any more accidents in the streets," he said as he stalked off into the small hut.

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean!" she yelled back with a note of genuine confusion in her voice. When she got no reply, Reiko walked quickly after him as he disappeared through the door in front of them.

**X X X**

"And how do you think you arrived here?" asked the senior man as he made notes at his desk. He seemed to be paying attention to everything Reiko said, so that was a good start in her opinion.

"That's just it, I don't know!" she replied with a defeat. It was the same question she had asked herself many times too and she still had yet to come up with a way to explain how it had happened. "One minute my mission was going smoothly, then next..."

An instant of hesitation hit Reiko as Reno was brought back into her mind for the first time since that unforgettable moment when her world was turned upside-down. Her throat tightened at the thought of the man she had fallen in love with and she could hardly breathe. A load of questions had been tormenting her and she yearned for nothing more than answers. Why did he choose to betray them? What about the two years of friendship they'd shared? Was that also part of his game plan so he could get close to the Queen? Was the affection and warmth he had been showering Reiko with all this time just an act to gain her trust? Then what about these feelings she always thought they had for each other...? Was that also... Reiko suspended her train of thought right there. She was too afraid to learn of the hurtful truth. Even now the pain of betrayal ran deep in her heart, creating a wound that would not heal. It was foolish to cling on to these familiar feelings after what he had done to hurt them all. Especially her. _How disgusting and shameless_, Reiko scolded herself.

"Then next...?" the man pressed.

She could feel Genrou's curious gaze on her. "Then next, the man I trusted the most became the traitor we least expected and killed someone I had sworn to protect with my life."

If this man didn't believe her, he didn't show it either. All she could read from the man was that he had been listening attentively and took notes as she talked. She didn't know what he was writing but she hoped it was something useful. As for her new companion, she could care less what his thoughts were.

"I see. Well then I think I've heard all that I need to hear, my dear," he said as he lifted his gray head to look up at Reiko, giving her a warm smile. It made her feel at ease a little. The belief that maybe she had hope of getting home seemed possible after all. Yes, things would be looking up from this moment onward. "Would you mind stepping out for a short while so I can discuss something with your friend?"

"Eh...?" Reiko flashed Genrou a doubtful look whose expression remained poker-faced the entire time. "Fine. I will wait outside then."

_But... _Reiko stopped after retreating from the room like she was asked to. _What could they possibly need to talk about without me in the room? Isn't this about me anyway? Why doI_ _have to leave the room?_ With that skeptical thought in mind, she turned back quietly, her ear glued against the door. On occasions like this, she was glad that these doors were made of such thing wood – it made eavesdropping much, much easier...

**X X X**

"Well?" asked Genrou as the strange girl left the room. "Is she crazy like I thought she is?"

The doctor's face looked stiffly grim as he considered his words carefully. "I'm not sure what to make of her story. She truly believes what she says so I cannot prove that she is lying, but these delusions of grandeur and melodramatic stories are somewhat hard to believe."

Genrou blinked as he tried to process what the doctor just said. "So... she's crazy?"

"Quite possibly," said the doctor with a resigned sigh. "She is so young too, what could have happened to such a girl to make her so?"

"You probably wouldn't want to know what could have happened to her," Genrou turned his head to the side while muttering under his breath so quietly that he doubted the old man could hear. The girl must have had it real rough to become this delirious. Though he was a bandit, he still had his pride and a conscience... at least to an extent. He only ever robbed from the rich and greedy and would never imagine himself stooping so low as to rape a woman. Those who only did as they pleased with others were beasts in human form and Genrou was far from that.

"I have some newly discovered herbal medicine that will help with calming her down, it was just recently imported here from a trader friend of mine."

"Well anything's worth a shot, I guess," said Genrou, scratching his head. The doctor presented him a small pouch with a handful of green leaves.

"You would boil them with five bowls of water until it evaporates into the amount of one bowl. Then serve it to her to help her relax."

"Sounds good, doc," Genrou said as he took the small pouch from the old man.

Before he could say anything more however, the door burst open with a loud crash. A _very_ angry and red-faced Reiko stormed in. Oh shit! Had she been listening to their conversation this entire time? Genrou knew he was in deep shit again and was really going to get it this time. He braced himself for an attack, but to his relief it never came. Instead she went for the doctor, making a rough grab at the shocked man's neck.

"A doctor? How is a doctor supposed to help me get back home? And what kind of a doctor are you to come up with such a lousy diagnosis like that? You think I'm crazy just based on the things I've told you? How do you know I'm not telling the truth!"

Genrou watched as Reiko throttled the old man by the neck without mercy. And people thought bandits were ruthless! Still, one had to admire her technique, the way the doctor's eyes were bulging out of their sockets and his skin which now had a slight purplish hue to it. Of course he was only able to admire it because her violent nature wasn't targeted at him, and every second he stood to stare was time that could be better spent _escaping_. But he couldn't quite bring himself to do it because he didn't have the heart to leave the old man to the obviously cold-hearted woman's actions.

God, this girl's wrath was just too scary.

"Reiko, you should let go before you kill-" he held his tongue when she spun to shoot him a glare that could turn him to stone. Her index finger stabbed at the tip of his nose rudely.

"How dare you!" Genrou flinched as she yelled, her voice booming throughout the small house. "You know, I get that you may not believe me, but that doesn't mean I'm crazy!"

Genrou backed away from the screaming banshee in front of him. Situations like this only strengthened his belief since childhood that _girls were nothing but bad news!_ Here he was concerned for her sanity and trying to help, even to go so far as to pay for some new age medicine for her and this was what he got in return!

"Hey! You've got a lot of nerve, you know! You could show a little appreciation!" he retorted back just as angry. He hated ungrateful people. "Here I am going through all this trouble for some delusional whore I found on the street and saved from some creeps looking to get into her pants, and all I get is you yelling at me?"

They both stared wide-eyed speechlessly at Genrou after his rambling rant. The doctor looked as if he couldn't believe the crude words that came out of his mouth; while the petrified Reiko fumed even more and Genrou could only assume it was because of his continued implication of her being some whore from a brothel. Great. He had just added fuel to unstoppable fire.

So she slapped him. Hard.

"What is your problem?" growled Genrou angrily as he rubbed his cheek. This was the second time today when his kindness had been rewarded with a slap to the face and he had enough of this! Reiko responded with an indignant glare as if she could stare him to death alone with that. When she realized how dumb she must have looked just staring at him like that, she abruptly turned and fled the room without one look back. Genrou watched as she disappeared out into the open street.

"That was a little uncalled for," the doctor spoke with a weak voice after his recovery from the brutal attack.

Genrou snorted. "Tell me about it! I had saved her from these two low life thugs, paid for a meal and medicine but what did she do? See if I'll save her ass next time when she's in trouble!"

The doctor cleared his throat nervously. "I mean... the things you were saying to her, that was a little blunt, don't you agree?"

"SHUT UP! What do you know, old man! You weren't the one who got hit on the same side of your face twice in a row in one day so quit acting like you know everything!" He shot the doctor a look that bordered on a death threat as if to warn him since the stupid girl hadn't kill him yet, then Genrou would be more than glad to finish the job if he wouldn't keep trap shut! The doctor got the silent threat and quickly cowered away.

Genrou wasn't retarded. He knew his vulgar attitude went a little too far and that it didn't go over so well but who could blame him! He was every kind of pissed and the more he thought about her deliberately abusing him, the more furious he became.

"Screw this! I don't have time for this bullshit!"

With a grunt of annoyance he tossed the doctor back his medicine, stuffing his fists in his pockets and stormed out of the hut too. But despite of how mad he was, Genrou couldn't help but to worry _just a little_ about her safety. With her current mental state, she would be defenseless if anything bad were to happen. So it would be natural for anyone with a heart to be concerned (or at least that was how he reasoned with himself). But there was still much to be prepared for tonight's ambush and he had already wasted enough time on that crazy runt. With a whole new purpose set in mind, Genrou had no choice but to brush the thoughts of her aside and headed towards the foot of Mount Reikaku.

**X X X**

Reiko let out another wary groan for what must have been the thirtieth time. The sun had already descended and dark evening (as gloomy as her current mood was) settled in shortly after she ran out of the busy market. She had been walking aimlessly through the dusky forest for a long while now and all she could see were trees, trees, a few shrubs here and there, and then... oh great, more trees again! At a moment like this, Reiko only wished she had taken the time to learn her historic geography better so she wouldn't be so blown away to discover that a massive part of ancient China was actually shrouded with mostly plain woodlands.

_It was all that idiot, Genrou's fault!_

Her temper flared up just from thinking of that loud mouthed moron. It was fine if he wasn't convinced by her story (as comical as it may have sounded) but he had absolutely no right to insult her and treat her like some loose psychopath! Although, she grudgingly admitted, the jerk was being generous since he had paid for her meal and the doctor's bill. Her empty stomach growled at the thought of food since she was too disturbed earlier to have an appetite for meals.

_Let's hope I can find a village or some sort of civilization soon or else I will have to camp out in the wild and starve,_ Reiko grunted.

She may be dauntless but she wasn't stupid. There had to be all kinds of feral beasts prowling around a forest like this and she would most likely run across some if she wasn't careful. But however repelling the idea appeared, what were her alternatives if she really had no other choices but to sleep outdoor in the chilly night? Her eyes traveled up a random tall tree rooted before her gingerly. She considered whether she wanted to plummet to her death while sleeping up in the tree or to witness her own slow yet painful death as a wild boar took its sweet time gorging on her flesh. Both pictures weren't very desirable.

_Argh! If only I have my nice warm bed right now..._ She cut that train of thought before it could go any further. To think of her bed would be to think back to her home, which would eventually lead her to think of Garnesia, her friends and worst of all, Gabriella whom she had failed to save. Reiko did not want to think about it as guilt and remorse had been gnawing at her conscience already_. _She had made a vow with everything she had to protect Gabriella from any danger, but in the end, Reiko could only witness her death that come to pass. Her fingers involuntarily touched the gems on the pendant when her mind once again swayed to the man she had so much faith in. It was her fault to have trusted Reno so completely, heart and soul.

To make matters worse, as if she didn't have enough troubles, fate decided to top her misery off by throwing her into the world of a fairytale story with no way out. Perhaps it was a cosmic favour so she could escape from the grave reality she would have had to grapple with. The King of Darenarc must be on the way leading his heavy army to invade Garnesia now since Gabriella, his greatest opposition, was finally out of his way. So it wasn't hard to imagine the probability of the kingdom's current warfare. Her only hope (as slim and rare as it may be) was that her homeland which she had grown to adore so much, wouldn't be reduced into a pile of rubble _if_ Reiko somehow managed to return back to her own time.

_If..._ she sighed, low-spirited. _If only the genius Daisuke is here with me, then_ _maybe I'd still have a chance to go home..._

Wait a minute! She stopped dead in her track as an idea popped in her mind. Daisuke may not be here with her but he had given her something that might be of some help in her present situation! Reiko plopped down on to the pebbly soil and rummaged wildly through the small bag she had been carrying on her shoulders the entire day.

"Where is it, where is it?" She raked through the bag and found a cluster of ammunition, gas bombs and finally found the charcoal ore. Reiko cheered with eagerness. She took the small device out. Immediately her look of eagerness turned into a look of discouragement. She had forgotten that she didn't know how to open up the ball. Reiko turned the ore over in her hands and looked for an opening or key of some kind. After ten unsuccessful minutes of looking for a button, shaking it repeatedly, and slamming it against the ground hard, she gave up in frustration.

"Why won't you open, you piece of junk!" she yelled into the air, not caring who heard her. "Damn you, Daisuke! Why give me this thing and not tell me how to activate the device?"

"Activating device, voice verification complete," said a voice from her hand.

Looking down, her eyes grew wide as the small ore expanded rapidly in size. A white light suddenly burst forth from it. With a gasp of surprise, she threw it down when a small form leaped out of the device. Reiko stared at what appeared to be a small black cat more or less bigger than the size of her palm. She had to blink twice just to make sure her brain wasn't playing tricks on her.

"Question: your command, Mistress?"

There was the pregnant silence again. Reiko tried to absorb what had just happened. Daisuke had said that this thing was supposed to provide information, right? So why did she have a talking cat instead? Especially when he knew very well that s_he hated cats._

"Confused query: Mistress? Did you not summon me?"

As she continued to have a staring match with the little ball of fur, she felt a rising emotion rolling around in the pit of her stomach – fear. Her mind once again screamed, _I hate cats!_

"Observation: Mistress, you seem to fear me. Do not worry Mistress, my assassination programming is attuned to not harm you," said the cat with an unmistakably cheerful tone.

Anger warred with fear as she took in the cat's statement. Daisuke knew she hated cats, and yet he felt the need to give her an useful tool in the form of a kill-happy kitty that he knew she loathed and feared? What was the meaning of this? To help her conquer her ultimate fear or some rotten motives like that?

"Statement: while I am not sure what to make of your quiet disposition Mistress, I do propose that we get to know each other better. Shall we celebrate this occasion by killing something? I suggest the elderly? They move the slowest," he gave her a feline smile which showed off his pearl white fangs. Obviously he couldn't wait to begin his game of vicious hunting.

It was a cat. It was homicidal. It was a cat. It wanted to kill elderly people because they were easy targets. It was a cat! Argh! Reiko couldn't take it anymore. She would seriously be driven insane if she had to spend another minute with this useless half feline, half robot _thing_!

"Get back into the ball!" she demanded, not bothering to hide her dissatisfaction.

"Statement: Cannot comply."

Her heart skipped two beats from panic. "What do you mean 'cannot comply'! Why not?"

"Statement: because once Mistress activates me, I cannot return into the device again. Therefore the existence of the device serves no further purpose to Mistress now and can be destroyed," his cat eyes suddenly glowed. Two rays of red laser light shafted through the ore until it exploded from the extreme heat. "Statement: I have successfully disposed of the device, Mistress. Any further commands?"

Dumbfounded by the small kitty's destructive capacity, she could only gape at her new feline companion. If anything else, Daisuke had built one puny yet ferocious killing machine, she would give him that much credit for his sadistic prank. Meanwhile, hundreds of different scenarios swept through her head as she had already began planning for his torturous death.

"Query: your command, Mistress?" he repeated.

Reiko answered with a wave of her hand, dismissing him. She rose to her feet and continued to walk off in the direction she was heading earlier. The kitty was close at her heels. It took all of her willpower to suppress the urge of cursing out loud in dismay. Initially she thought this A.I. Device would at least be some sort of relief to her calamitous state of affairs, but instead Daisuke had created a demon from hell with an insatiable blood-lust and possessed a wealth of invaluable knowledge. The worst part was that Reiko couldn't get rid of it! Just how many more things could possibly go astray on her birthday?

"Aaahhhhh!..." A shrill scream broke out into the darkness, startling her.

"What the? Did you hear that?" she asked, searching for the source of scream.

"Statement: Yes, Mistress. The scream came from the north," he pointed his furry paw at the opposite direction they were going. Reiko cautiously made her way down the path through the trees and bushes. Her sense of alert heightened as she listened for more sound.

"Please! Someone help me!" the same voice shouted again. This time it sounded closer so Reiko was able to distinguish the owner of the voice was actually a male. She instinctively broke into a sprint and ran towards the general direction of the sound.

"Observation: I detect no delicious sounds of suffering from the previous voice. Perhaps it is a trap, Mistress?"

"You're a robotic cat, what would you know of emotion?" she snapped. A stupid robot cat presumed to know more about human emotion than her, the actual human!

"Justification: I am actually programmed to read human emotions quite well as your species give off many signals with which to measure and read."

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" she retorted, feeling foolish by the minute that she was arguing with a talking cat.

"Explanation: for example, every male within a 50 meter radius currently wants to mate with you," he said as if he was discussing an ordinary topic.

"What!" she couldn't keep her voice low. "What men? There is no one in this forest except you and me. Unless you mean the man who's been screaming because his life is in danger!"

The scream sounded again and broke their pointless argument.

"Whatever! I don't care if you can detect emotions or even the my menstruation cycle, I can't just ignore a cry of help like that!"

She increased her speed, giving the cat no choice but to follow until they came to an empty clearing. In the middle of the grassy field laid a blue-haired man, unmoving. Without hesitating, she made a move towards him but two mysterious shadows suddenly sprung out from the darkness, thrusting their daggers at her. Reiko jumped back with alert and glared at them.

"Look what we've got here," one man snickered.

"Yeah. Good thing we came out for a late night hunting," the other replied. Both of them were giving her a head-to-toe full body inspection. "Boss should be please with our catch."

Reiko stood her ground defensively. "Who are you two?"

"We are the big bad bandits who come out at night to get pretty girls like yourself," they chuckled as if they found their own jokes humorous. "Now why don't you be a good girl and just do as we say, then we promise not to hurt you."

Great. Criminals. '_Exactly what she needs' _she thought with a bow of her head as she clenched her fists in frustrations.

"Ah, very submissive. Now that's the type of girl I like most," the first man grinned. He put away his weapon and crossed over to her, closing the distance between them. His large hand was placed on her bare shoulder. Reiko lifted her head to look at him with a surprising smile that caught him off-guard. Seizing the passing chance, she swiftly grabbed a solid hold of his wrist, rotating his arm until she heard something snap. He howled in pain.

"Hm, so who is hurting who now, mister big bad bandit?" The man threw a fast punch at her face. She dodged it with ease and elbowed him in the ribcage so hard that the man doubled over in pain. Before he had enough time to recover from the dire attack, Reiko struck him with a violent kick in the chest, sending him into the trunk of the tree.

"One down and one more to go," she said with a smirk.

The other man was rooted to the spot with his jaw dropped. Evidently she wasn't going to be such an easy target to capture. He gulped in fear since she appeared to be many times stronger than he was.

"Oh don't look so worried," said Reiko as she turned to face him. "I'm not going to kill either one of you, but I will for sure maim and torture you for daring to try to hurt a poor, defenseless girl like me."

The man gulped visibly, shrinking away. As she watched in satisfaction at the effect she was having on him, a sudden thought occurred to her. Why waste her energy when she had a useful sidekick now? Reiko turned to the cat. "Okay, here's your first command, kitty. Get rid of that man for me."

Her feline companion shook his tiny head. "Objection: but Mistress! that would go against what I was programmed to do! I'm afraid I must regrettably decline."

Reiko was speechless and dropped her head in resignation. Why did she even bother trying? "Fine. I will take care of him myself."

The other man finally made his first move and charged at her with his dagger. She stood in one place, dodging the lethal trusts of his weapon. She was too quick and impossible for him to follow. It was no trouble to avoid each blow. When Reiko saw a perfect opening, she delivered a forceful kick to his arm, causing the dagger to fall out of his hand. At the same time, she used the foot to bring the falling weapon into the air and caught it with no effort. He staggered for a second before delivering another punch. Reiko dodged and slapped his arm away with the flat of the dagger's blade. A forceful smash to the back of his skull with the handle of the weapon did the job of knocking him out. The man slumped down at her feet.

Reiko tossed the dagger aside and dusted off her hands. "That was easy. I was expecting more from these thieves since they're from the ancient China. Aren't they disciplined in any form of technique? Like Karate or something?

The cat suddenly breezed in out of nowhere now that the fight was over. "Observation: Mistress, karate is a method of self-defense developed in _Japan_, not China."

For some reason, she suddenly had this very desperate urge to sink the dagger she had been holding into the cat's ribcage.

"Observation: I can sense the sudden intensified murderous desire from you, Mistress. These men may be a pain in the neck, but a massacre is unnecessary and there is no need for Mistress to dirty her hands with their blood."

"You know, the first thing you must learn as a pet is to act like one. You might live longer that way too," Reiko threatened. She quickly walked up to the unconscious men and was about to inspect his injuries when the cat distracted her. Again.

"Advisement: the lump of a man before you is fully conscious and Mistress should not approach him. No doubt it is some feeble attempt to attack you. Shall I dispose of him by removing his innards, Mistress?"

"Why is it that your lust for death only ever involves _helpless_ victims? First the elderly, now the unconscious? What's up on your list next? Children because they're sitting ducks?"

"Gleeful explanation: Why Mistress, I did not mean to convey that I only ever hunt the weak and defenseless! Worthy prey are absolutely interesting to terminate, however there is a certain fun that only killing the weaker prey provides," his eyes were big and innocent.

That was it. She had at last reached the boiling point with her anger. This black cat was insulting, homicidal, unhelpful, and now he was even malfunctioning since the man before her was obviously knocked out.

_It's not like it would really be murder_, she justified her murderous intentions to herself as she turned to observe the innocent looking feline_. I mean, allowing him to tag along would only let him get in my way and it's not like it's a real cat anyway... _

Before she could think about the different ways she could go about disposing of the cat however, a sudden sharp pain struck the back of her head. Reiko felt herself falling forward and faintly heard the cat calling out to her. In her moment of preoccupation she was caught off-guard for an otherwise simple attack to counter.

_Damn.. that stupid cat was right_, she thought to herself, before she succumbed to unconsciousness and knew no more.

**X X X**


	3. Chapter 3: You Again?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fushigi Yuugi. This amazing anime was created by Yuu Watase. I only created Reiko and I'm proud of her!

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**

**A Kiss of Fate**

**By: Sweet DayDreamer**

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**

**Chapter 3: You Again?**

_**FLASHBACK TO REIKO'S CHILDHOOD**_

"Aren't you getting tired of hearing this story yet, Reiko?" asked her father. "You've heard it so many times by now."

"I'll never get tired of hearing it!" she exclaimed loudly with her tiny fists under her chin.

"Really?" asked her father with a wry grin. "Who's your favorite character then?"

"Tasuki of course!" said Reiko. "Who else would it be?"

"Tasuki?" he asked in surprise. "Most little girls usually like Hotohori though since he's a prince, kind, rich and good looking."

"Hah!" she scoffed. "First of all I'm a _big_ girl!"

Her father chuckled in amusement. "Of course Reiko, I'm sorry I forgot."

"Second, those other little girls are lame," she stated as if it were fact. "Hotohori is nice and all but he's boring!"

"How so?" her father asked, both amused and worried at her 5 year old daughter. While it was cute that his little girl was so passionate about this fictional character, it could also be a sign that she would be looking to date the bad-boy type when she grew up. He held back a grimace at that thought.

"Tasuki's brave like you, daddy," she said, nodding to herself. "He never backs down from the bad guys."

"Isn't he a little too wild though?" he asked.

"That just means he'd be fun and cool to be around!" she said while bouncing in her seat. "I wouldn't mind marrying someone like that!"

He really hoped that this was just the temporary crush of an innocent child, or he'd certainly be in for some rough times ahead in the future.

_**END OF FLASHBACK **_

**X X X**

Reiko felt like someone had bludgeoned her head with a heavy rock as she woke. She opened her eyes slowly and moved her head around trying to make sense of where she was. She noticed that she was now lying on a cold hard surface, so that meant someone had brought her indoors. Great, so she was a prisoner now. Better yet, a prisoner who had a headache she could not escape from throbbing in the back of her head. No doubt getting the back of her skull struck not once but _twice_ in a day hadn't helped. It would be nothing short of miracle if she hadn't suffered from a major concussion after all this trauma. She sucked in a calming breath and tried to move a hand, but to her dismay, she couldn't move as freely as she would like. It took her two full seconds to realize her hands were actually bound tightly together behind her back. She tried to free herself but the struggle only made the coarse rope cut deeper into her sore wrists.

_What is going on...?_

A moan of pain escaped her lips as she opened her eyes a little wider. Reiko sucked in another breath, and this time caught the thick scent of sweat and smoke in the air. The loud voices and feminine giggles increased the pounding in her ears, making it harder to concentrate. It took her several seconds to become aware that she was actually inside an unfurnished but well lit room. Although her hands were tied, she managed to sit up without much trouble on her first try. Her eyes were shut close again from the immense pain she was feeling and leaned against the cold wall for support.

"Are you alright?" Reiko turned to the owner of the female voice beside her, dazed.

The young girl, who was tied up much like herself, studied her with an anxious look on her face. Her large, innocent green eyes shone with concern. Although the tender migraine was on the verge of killing Reiko, it was hard for her to overlook the girl's offbeat hairstyle. She had long reddish-brown hair which was tied in two buns with some red ribbons on top of her head. Reiko would have laughed if she wasn't in so much pain.

"Where am I?" asked Reiko, baffled with a distinct sense of deja vu. It was the second time in one day that she asked the very same question. She spared a moment to take in her surroundings.

The room was bare, with only a table arranged in the middle and the lit candle as the only source of light in here. A few robust young men sat around the table, drinking and guffawing while two attractive women served them booze. _Attractive was an understatement_, Reiko decided after taking a closer look at the beautiful women. One of them had long silvery-brown hair delicately framing her lovely face; the other violet-haired woman had hers tied in a long braid and had a figure even she was jealous of. Their beauty was spellbinding, and the men with their obvious lustful looks illustrated that fact quite clearly.

"I believe we're at Mount Reikaku's stronghold," the girl whispered with an unusual calmness as if she wasn't affected by their current situation.

Something stirred in Reiko's brain as memories of the earlier event before she was unconscious rushed back to her. It was those damn bandits! That stupid cat was right. It was indeed a trap. But it could have been easily avoided if Reiko wasn't bristling with anger and chose not to listen to his warnings. To her dismay she noticed her weapons were also confiscated from her, but the worst realization came when she checked her pockets. Her medication was gone. She needed to take daily doses in order to survive and it had already been too long since she last took any. Her already fatal condition would only be driven to a terminal end faster and she wasn't ready to die at this foreign place from a fairytale. Dear God, now just how was she going to get out of the mess this time? She suddenly became very weary; so weary of all the needless affliction she had to go through in a day's worth to even feel the pain of grief and rage anymore.

As she thought about her next course of action, she quickly realized there wouldn't be any easy way to escape and it was just adding to her frustrations. On top of that, the stupid cat was missing. The one time where he would actually be of some use to her and he wasn't around. Maybe these bandits ate him or something, that would certainly serve him right! Except that he wasn't a real cat, he was a robot, and he would actually be useful here, and he wasn't here! Reiko let out a growl and tried to put her mind on other matters.

Reiko turned back to the girl. "You were abducted by those bandits too?"

The girl edged closer awkwardly and nodded. "We fell into their trap and were brought back here."

"_We_?" Reiko glanced over at the giggling women. "Those are your friends? They sure seem like they're having a good time associating with the bandits." The girl was about to say something before one of the men, rugged in appearance, interrupted them.

"Ah, so you're finally awake," he grinned at Reiko though his voice was far from friendly.

His casual remark prompted the others in the room to look her way. Reiko sighed. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" He exchanged looks with the other fellow bandits and laughed as if they heard some funny inside joke. He turned to her again, his grin growing wider.

"What do I want?" he repeated the question, his hungry eyes roved up and down her form. She suppressed a shudder at the blatant ogling the man was doing. "Well I did want some silly payback for hurting my brother and breaking his arm, but now that I've taken a better look at you I think I might have changed my mind..."

Reiko glared at the man as he came close enough for her to smell the alcohol on his breath. With a quick lift of her leg, she managed to slam her knee against his groin, causing him to crumple to the floor and cry out in pain. She gave a small smirk at her work, but it was short lived when the man got up and threw his fist at her in rage. She barely had time to move out of the way when his fist collided roughly with the stone wall behind her. A loud crunch was heard as the bones in his hand shattered upon impact and once again the man cried out, this time in more pain and frustration.

"I think you would prefer some silly payback instead," she replied with a cocky smile. "And it's not my fault your brother can't hold his own in a two on one fight against a girl."

"I am going to kill you, you little runt!" he roared and grabbed Reiko roughly by the collar with his good hand. She choked a little from the unyielding grip.

The violet-haired woman who had remained silent this whole time suddenly came over and put a hand on the barbarian's shoulder. "Awww, calm down, mister. No need to get yourself all worked up at some ignorant girl like her. Com'on over and let me take a look at your hand?"

She batted her eyelashes at him flirtatiously and pulled him away from Reiko. The man cursed under his breath and released her but not without reluctance. Was it her imagination or did this woman just wink at her? "I ought to teach that bitch a lesson she'd remember for the rest of her life!"

The woman giggled perkily as they walked back to the table. "Oooh you are so manly! But I think you need medical attention to your hand. You have a doctor here?"

"Are you hurt?" the girl beside Reiko asked with eyes wide from fear, pulling her attention away from the crew.

Reiko tried to snort, but it came out as a cough instead. "Don't flatter that idiot. Like he can hurt me much anyway."

She exhaled loudly as if she had been holding in her breath and nodded. Reiko suddenly realized that she had never once noticed what this girl was wearing. Unlike the others in this room, the girl had a set of brown uniform with a short skirt, the white shirt she wore underneath completed with a bluish-green bow on her neck. Her outfit may be out of style but it was dead sure more modernistic compared to what the people of this time wore. Could it be...was she who Reiko thought she was...?

The door to the room suddenly opened, cutting short of her thoughts. At the doorway stood another young man with dark blue hair tied with a yellow bandana around his head. He was considerably the best looking bandit among the rest in spite of the long scar on his left cheek.

"Oh hey! Look who's here to join us!" one of the bandits chuckled.

"Kouji! Come and drink with us, man!"

The man walked in. "Yo, I came cuz the boss told me to take one of the captives to him." His eyes browsed nonchalantly at each female prisoners in the room. His casual glance lingered at Reiko for two seconds before moving over to the girl next to her.

"This one will do nicely," he commented, hauling her up. "The boss always likes breaking in the young ones after all." The men roared with laughter at the last obscene remark.

"Miaka!" The brown-haired woman cried out, growing frightful and angry for the first time.

"If you must take one of us, then take me instead!" The other woman shouted.

"And who are you to make demands of me?" he asked with a toothy grin. "You're not exactly in any position to make demands."

These two women's unwavering loyalty to their friend had aroused a familiar emotion in Reiko. She had never given much thought to how she would sacrifice herself in place of someone else, someone like Gabriella whom she had admired and held in high respect of. But even if she had thought about it, this would never have been one of the scenarios she would imagine happening. Their selflessness was quite noble, to be honest, and Reiko wondered if she would have been able to do the same for someone she cared for just as much if the tables were turned on her.

"Hey," Reiko called out to the man and caught everyone's attention. "Why don't you take me instead?"

Okay, so it was definitely not in her best interest to play the sacrificial lamb in place of a total stranger whom she had only met for five minutes. It was also not because she was moved by those women's earnest devotion to their friendship either and decided to stage her own righteousness. She was simply wilting in exhaustion. And she was furious about all the course of grueling crisis she had to ride out in one day. Yes, she was furious enough to _murder_ someone, especially the last person who had put her through yet another havoc on her birthday.

The man, Kouji raised an eyebrow at her unexpected proposal. Reiko tried her best to look provocative, which was difficult for her since her mind was too preoccupied with ten different ways to remove his entrails through his nose. She tried to put what she hoped was a seductive look on her face and as if on cue, her sleeveless coat fall lower off one shoulder to reveal some cleavage.

"Maybe your boss might like a change for once?" she asked in a husky voice with a flirtatious smile, batting her lashes at him exaggeratedly. It was difficult to ignore the looks (varied from lewd to pure jaws-hanging shock) she was getting while doing her best not to laugh in self-loathing. She'd really hit rock bottom from her status as an elite guard. "Maybe he'd like someone with a bit more experience this time?"

She watched as Kouji's eyes roved over her suspiciously. "Well, since you insisted on becoming the victim so badly then let's take you to the boss."

Before giving her any time to react, he had already hauled her up and half dragged her by the back of her coat across the room. "You guys can continue partying. I will be back shortly."

"Shit. I can't believe that bitch rather sleeps with Eiken," a man remarked.

"Maybe she has a weird fetish of some sort."

The stench-filled room quickly roared back to life again as the bandits laughed and cheered. Reiko didn't quite understand the implication of their jokes but it certainly didn't sound too promising. Hopefully she wouldn't regret this. She just had to take the boss hostage in exchange for her personal possessions and a guaranteed safe escape. Getting out of these ropes may be a trial of wits but once she could untangle herself then the rest of her game plan would fall into place. Three pairs of rather concerned eyes watched as she made the exit through the door. This was way beyond the bounds of humiliation when she was being jerked around like a luggage. She struggled with madness in a depressing attempt to shake off his steel-like hold.

"Hey! Let go of your filthy hand! Only my wrists are bind so I can still walk on my own!"

"You are quite a troublemaker, aren't you? I knew you were nothing but trouble the moment we saw you," Kouji sighed but released his grasp.

"Saw me? When was that?"

"Don't worry about it, just keep walking," he commanded and continued walking off. Reiko followed compliantly from behind. She had to pick up her pace a few times in order to keep up with him. While they were striding down the long corridor, her eyes were fixated on his back. She chewed over the sprouting curiosity as to why his board shoulders seemed vaguely familiar to her. Blue hair, huh...

Then realization struck her. She gasped with surprise. And fury.

Without making a sound, Reiko blindsided him and slammed her shoulder against his back with as much strength as she could muster. Kouji stumbled forward from the unexpected attack but caught his balance almost right away. That greatly disappointed her.

"What are you doing?" he cried with a surprise. "Don't think you can escape the stronghold while you're in this state-"

"You were that coward who tricked and attacked me earlier!" Reiko cut him off and lunged at him again.

He shot out his arm just when her body was close to colliding with him. Luckily she was able to brake her steps right before his palm came in direct contact with her chest. Reiko shrieked in a fit of panic. In response to her ear-splitting cry, Kouji could only winced and recoiled, pulling his hand away as fast as he could.

"You pervert! Where are you trying to touch?"

His jaw dropped, clearly dumbfounded. "You were the one who tried to attack me and I was just-"

"You animal! Wait until I get out of these ropes then I will kill you!"

Outraged, she tried to headbutt him as any of her remaining rational thoughts had already flown out the window. He shot out his arm again but this time it seemed like he was being extra careful not to touch her anywhere private. He made a grab for her forehead and put an arm's length of a distance between them. Reiko knew their current postures looked silly but she didn't give a damn. With a swift push of her right leg, she thrust her body forth like a fighting bull but Kouji held his ground fast. He stabbed his free hand through his blue hair in frustration.

"This is exactly what I mean when I said you're a troublemaker... And regarding to the ropes, thanks for reminding me that. I will have to make sure you don't get out of those for the rest of the night then."

Reiko felt the urge to bite off her tongue for speaking her mind out even when trapped in a desperate situation like now. With her hands tied like this, there was very minimal she could possibly do, let alone kick asses.

"And don't think so badly of us now. We're just doing our job," he sounded genuinely amused and that was when she began to make these cat-like growls at him. Kouji finally let go of her head but started dragging her in the previous ridicule manner again until they came upon to a room, which one could only assume the boss was behind those pair of closed doors. He released his hold and knocked on them.

"Excuse me. Who is it? It's Kouji with one of the captured girls for the boss to see. Ah, glad you're finally here! Come on in right away! Thank you."

Reiko was left speechless. If this was his method of some sort to pacify her resentment then he had just done one hell of a job. She wondered if he always talked to himself that way but nevertheless, it was just plain weird. She followed him into the sizable chamber and on the bed sat an awfully fat man who was feasting and drinking. At last she had fully understood the casual remarks those bandits have made. Nothing could define this man more fitting than the vile ogres in fairytale. The leader gazed up lazily at his new catch and that was when the drumstick he had been pigging out fell from his greasy lips.

"Oooh! Kouji! You did good! She is perfect!" The boss looked as if he was _very_ pleased with what he was seeing but she couldn't speak the same for herself. He was...hideous!

_So this grinning fat ogre is the boss whom these thieves around here respected? You've got to be kidding me. And oh god...is that drool oozing through the corner of his mouth? _she mused with a distaste and stole a glance at Kouji, who seemed to be giving her a look of pity.

Her anger flared up. "Don't you dare give me that look when _you're_ the one who brought me here!"

He looked surprised. "Me? But I didn't choose you at first. You're the one who persuaded me to pick you."

"But how would I know your boss actually looks like an overblown whale with more than his fair share of testosterone!"

"What exactly were you expecting? Someone as good looking as me?" he joked with a prideful grin.

"Enough!" The boss howled. It looked like this ogre had a short temper too. "Kouji, you may leave now. I would like some alone time with my pretty captive!"

He complied and closed the doors, leaving her alone with the leader. The fat man chortled and leered at her like she was some piece of meat he couldn't wait to gorge on. Reiko loathed the way he was looking at her since it felt as if he was stripping her naked just with the use of his beady eyes. It clearly didn't take a rocket scientist to figure what directions his lustful thoughts were leading him to.

"Kouji found me such a pretty girl tonight!" he rose stumblingly from the bed at last and moved towards her. She shrunk from his stretching daubed hands, barricading herself with the round dining table placed at the center of the room. The perverted grin grew as he staggered around the small furniture. "Ah, so you want to play, you naughty girl?"

Reiko struggled to break off the bind but only succeeded in making the rope cut deeper into her wrists. She evaded his outstretched arms when he threw his heavy body across the table with a loud, painful thud. But to her dismay, her heels hit against the bed when she stepped back. She was trapped! Reiko quickly whirled around only to discover he was right behind her. A shiver of panic trembled in her stomach as there was no where to escape. He made a rough grab of her chin, forcing her to face him.

"You aren't going anywhere now so let's see what you've got for me," his chuckle was a breathless one.

The way he scrutinized her now made her stomach turned upside down, especially when the ogling exploration stopped right at her chest as if something had caught his eyes. It was the pendant Reno had given her, the last token of their fictitious friendship. Greedily, he yanked the necklace off from her and hid it between his clothes. Before she could do a damn thing, the bastard already had his hungry sight on the armlet she was wearing too, which once belonged to her mother.

"You have many fancy jewelery and they will surely fetch me a good price too!"

Reiko grit her teeth in anger at the audacity of the man before her. Who did the fat bastard think he was, trying to cop a feel and steal from her? She'd killed stronger and more capable men than him for less, and she wasn't about to let him get away with this now. But unfortunately she was in no position to do any harm to him while her hands bound together like this. It seemed a little diplomacy was in order.

"You know you're right," she began with a wide smile plastered on her face. "It's worth more than I could ever be worth, so why don't I trade you them for my freedom? I'll even help you remove this bracelet that you like so much."

"How dumb do you think I am?" he asked with a laugh. "First of all, you're a prisoner here and you have nothing to bargain with. Secondly, I can just remove your jewelery myself after I've removed the rest of your clothes!"

Reiko just barely managed to dodge the larger man's tackle when he jumped at her. "Hey! What are you trying to do?"

"What do you think?" he asked with a leer. "I'm helping you to get comfortable for tonight's activities!"

"Well you're not doing a very good job!" she said while trying to hold back her temper. Diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy, she kept chanting to herself. "Is this what you've been doing with all women? It's no wonder you have to resort to your men capturing them for you!"

The ogre faltered in his steps at her scolding.

"Really?" he asked with a sense of wonder. "I always thought it was because women couldn't get past my weight or that they found me unattractive."

"No, no," she replied with a fake smile again. "You're actually not that bad looking at all! And in fact I can help you learn how to treat a girl right so you don't have to do this sort of thing anymore."

"And what's in it for you?" he asked with a look of mistrust directed at her.

"Look, we both know that this place is surrounded by your men and I know there's nothing I can do to get out of this situation," she explained, expertly bullshitting her way through. "But at least if you're going to do this, I can try to make it as pleasurable for myself as possible, right?"

"Well..." he said with a thoughtful look on his face.

_He seems to be considering the idea_, she thought to herself. _All he needs is a little push.._.

"Besides, what would you rather have, a struggling girl who you'll have to waste your energy to subdue, or a willing partner who can give you pointers?"

That seemed to have done the job well as the large smirk appeared on his face.

"Alright fine," he relented. "What do I do first?"

"Well first you can help me get a bit more comfortable," she suggested, holding up her bound arms. "I can't really show you anything in this position."

He instantly seemed alert once again. "What for? You can talk to me just fine the way you are!"

"Because I'm not comfortable like this!" she retorted a little louder than she meant to. "What could I possibly do to you anyways, you're so much stronger than me! I'm offering you _mind-blowing_ sex here if you'll just untie my arms so I'm more comfortable!"

"Alright, alright," he said with a roll of his eyes. "But this had better be the best night of my life for all the trouble you're causing me."

"Oh, I'll definitely enjoy myself," she remarked with a genuine smile this time. He untied the knots that bound her arms.

"Don't you mean _we'll_ enjoy ourselves?" he asked with the same lecherous grin as he stared at her ass. While he was so focused on his ogling that he was unprepared when she whirled around and connected her fist with his jaw.

"Nope," she replied as she stood over his dazed form, flexing her hands. "I meant what I said."

With that, she lifted her leg up and stomped down hard on his stomach repeatedly. His desperate struggles to shield himself from her relentless attacks greatly satisfied Reiko. Desiring a more up-close and personal beating, she straddled him and grabbed hold of his pudgy neck and throttled him, banging his head down on the floor over and over. It was no wonder some have claimed that revenge could be so sweet and pleasing.

**X X X**

Genrou moved down the hallway as silently as he could. So far he'd been successful in quietly infiltrating the compound, which surprised him as he would've thought that the place would be better guarded than it was. In fact, he hadn't run into any opposition period so far, though whether that was due to lax guards or something else he wasn't sure. What he was sure of was that someone was having a rough time in the room ahead, and it sounded like a girl. Upon closer inspection though he realized that the room ahead was Eiken's and that any noise like that which didn't set guards on alert meant that he was probably bedding captured women. His blood boiled at the thought of what was going on in that room to make the girl scream like she was right now.

Deciding that he no longer cared for being quiet and instead wanted to beat the shit out of that fat bastard, he burst through the doors ahead only to come upon a scene that gave him the shock of his life. Up ahead was Reiko, and from the looks of it she was straddling that fat ass and willingly pleasuring him. His face went white as a sheet while his brain tried to process the show in front of him. What. The. Fuck. He just couldn't understand this girl. First she mistook him for a rapist, then she got mad at him for wanting to help her with her mental delusions and ran off, only to willingly fuck Eiken of all people? With all of this going through his mind, it was no wonder what the next words out of his mouth were.

"You psycho slut!" he shouted in a mix of fury and disbelief.

At the point three things happened at once. Reiko turned around in surprise and irritation upon seeing who was behind her; Genrou saw that she was fully clothed and indeed _not_ screwing Eiken's brains out; and faster than Genrou could react, Reiko's fist connected with his jaw. He fell back from the fast blow and landed hard on his ass. Genrou was too stunned to feel the pain nor could he breathe yet. Reiko walked up to gloom over him.

"It's you again? Just when are you planning to knock off with your insults, you loudmouthed jerk."

He snapped out of his trance and jumped at her. "It's not my fault to think you were fucking the fat bastard when you were mounting him like that!"

"I was only throttling the very last life out of him so get your dirty mind out of the gutter, you sick pervert!"

"For the last time, quit calling me a pervert because I am NOT a pervert! And who the hell strangles a man as if she's riding him anyway?" he shouted angrily.

"You're the one who started with all the name-callings! And why do you care _how_ I choke a man!" her temper matched his quite evenly. "Or is it that you want me to make you the victim that badly too?"

"Victim my ass! Don't make me laugh! What can a weak runt like yourself do besides throwing that undeveloped body of yours around at men who catch your eyes?" Genrou snorted and he must have had hit the sore spot since her scowl just grew bigger.

"Well, don't YOU worry about me throwing my body at YOU because it will never happen even if you were the last man on earth! I have better taste than seducing a good-for-nothing skunk!"

Genrou was seeing red. A good-for-nothing skunk? Just who in hell did she think she was? No one else had ever bashed him like that without getting busted up badly, and very few could even walk on their feet the next day. While they were determined to chew each other to pieces, they both had let their guard down and were completely oblivious when Eiken retrieved the Tessen and armed himself.

"Shut up, both of you!" Eiken cried, flushed with rage and pointing the Tessen directly at them.

That was when Genrou noticed the severe cut on the bastard's face and the bruises on his neck. He was genuinely impressed at the girl's ability to cause so much damage to a man three times her weight. But damn, right now was definitely not the time to be distracted with fascination because judging from Eiken's grimace, he would lash out at them with madness _very_ soon. That would be ugly since he held the Tessen in possession, so they must not provoke him further.

"No! _You_ shut up!" she barked back, surprising both men. "Have you not had enough of beatings? Do you want more, is that what you want?"

Genrou had to stifle a groan. Even for someone who was known for being impatient and hot under collar as himself, he knew better than to fan the fire at this very desperate moment. So much for being tactful...

"You bitch! I'm going to make you pay for what you've done!" The edginess in his loud roar told Genrou that the fat bastard was about to go ballistic. To his dismay, the stupid girl stood next to him was absolutely ignorant to the signs when she whipped up Eiken more as if she hadn't done enough already.

"Oh yeah? I would let to see you come over and try, fat boy," she challenged tauntingly and took two steps towards him.

"I'm going to teach you both for underestimating me! Now eat this! REKKA SHINEN!" shouted Eiken as he swung his fan in a quick arc, causing flame to burst forth in front of him.

Genrou could only stare in horror as the great ball of flame approached faster than she could react. Reiko let out a startled gasp, she shut her eyes and raised her arms in a futile attempt to protect herself from the incoming attack. Just before the fire could reach her, Genrou jumped in to coup her up into his arms and pulled her out of the harm's way, causing her to gasp in surprise.

Looking down at her still in his arms, he gave her a fierce scowl. "What the hell were you thinking taunting him like that?"

Her momentary surprise gave way to anger at his rudeness. "I had it under control!"

"Under control?" he asked in disbelief. "You could have been fried alive, you idiot!"

"How the heck would I know that piece of junk will shoot out fire! You could have at least warned me-" Her indignant reply was cut short as he sped up his run to escape as quickly possible, breaking through the window. The fat bastard could only watch in frustration as he sped out into the clear night faster than the large man could follow.

_He's too hard to beat when he's got Tessen,_ thought Genrou as he let out a string of four letter curses under his breath while racing towards the perfect secluded hideout he had in mind. With the speed of lightning, he bustled through the dark forest like an animal on two legs with Reiko in his arms. Tonight, unlike the other nights, he felt no joy and no exhilaration when he ran. Genrou was royally pissed off at everything and everyone. The turn of event, the stupid girl who was still in his arms and of course, himself for foiling his own plans. He hadn't a clue of how long he had been running, but the stronghold had been out of their sights for a while now, though that did not slow down his pace. He could have ran even faster if it weren't for the struggling runt's constant protest of being carried around like a ragged doll.

"We are far away from them! You can just let me run on my own feet now!" again came her annoying whine.

Genrou growled at her gravely for his patience was dangerously close to snapping. "Would you just shut the hell up already!"

"I will shut the hell up if you will just put me down!"

Despite her constant complaints, Genrou felt her clutching onto his coat tighter when he poured himself deeper into the forest faster, closer to the deserted small house. The cool night breeze drove into their faces and for the second time today, he caught the sweet fragrant from her that wafted up his nostril.

"Oh my God, you stupid girl! You think I enjoy carrying you around on this mountain? I'm doing this only so you wouldn't slow us down! If you haven't noticed, you may look half Eiken's size but you seem to be double his weight!" he mindlessly blurted out with aggravation, not really caring if that even made any sense at all. His real intention was just to shut her up, and it had worked. A small almost inaudible gasp escaped her parted lips. His crude insult had evidently shocked her into immobility, effective to all females like he had guessed. But all that had only lasted for mere seconds before she recovered and shouted very loudly into his right ear.

"If I'm that heavy then just drop me! I didn't ask you to carry me around either!"

Genrou winced at her brawling. _This girl surely got some fire in her, _he mused to himself almost with delight. Almost. Before she could find the breath to complain more, he was already running up the pathway leading to the entrance of the house. With a halfhearted kick at the doors, they swung open revealing a dark, scanty and bare room.

"Do you hear me? I said drop me!"

"Fine," with a growl, he dumped her on the concrete floor and she immediately landed on her butt with a loud thud, a high cry of pain followed.

Reiko's expression was twisted with strain. She immediately shot a hand behind to hold her lower spine, her other elbow resting on the ground to support the full weight of her body. Genrou allowed the temporary sense of triumph washed over him and smirked. Although normally he wouldn't have taken so much pleasures in watching a girl writhed and squirmed in pain especially when he was the one afflicting them, she seemed to know exactly what buttons to push to draw out his anger. Perhaps aside from her feminine curves and that heart-shaped face or even that pair of long slender legs, there was _absolutely_ nothing womanly about her. She hadn't given him a break since the moment they met, and she had certainly hadn't stopped trying to hurt him either. The soreness on his lower jaw reminded him painfully of what this '_girl'_ was capable of. One look at her now cold, sulky glare would have turned a man into stone but Genrou managed to stand his ground.

"What? You told me to drop you," he reminded her smoothly before she decided to break his jaw this time.

Her mouth opened but the angry words never made it past her lips when she snapped it shut quickly. She rose with a huff and spun on her heels to stand facing the cracked wall with a small wooden table below her waist.

There was a moment of silence.

Relieved and glad that his jaws were still intact, Genrou let out a breathe that he hadn't realized he had been holding in. With a casual movement of his shoulders, he shrugged out of his trench coat and tossed it at his feet before plopping down onto the hard floor. This was just great. With the unsuccessful attempt of an ambush, Eiken would be on his guard against him now and his scheme to penetrate their defense alone would be a no-go. Genrou shifted crossly in his seated position and glanced over his shoulder to see her slightly slouched over with both hands holding the edges of the table.

The matter had gone from bad to worse when he discovered Reiko in that fat bastard's lair tonight. His original plan had been to slip into his bedroom, steal Tessen to handicap that bastard before beating the shit out of him. He wasn't going to let Eiken walk away without severe bruises and some broken ribs. Then he would force that ass to do the dirtiest and backbreaking chores within the stronghold until he drop dead on his feet. But Reiko's presence had been nothing but a joking distraction which led to the downfall of his otherwise perfect strategy.

He admitted that he had been worried about her since this afternoon when they parted ways in the less than preferable manners. There had been moments when the thoughts of her safety would give him an occasional tug at the back of his mind. But this...this whole mess was just too much! Now Genrou was left with no other choices but to come up with another plan to take out that traitor. He ran a hand wearily through his hair and cursed out loud. "Shit."

The sudden loud thud when Reiko hit her fists at the table scared him. Genrou was so startled he almost jumped out of his skin. "What the hell-"

"I can't believe this!" She shouted with an furious scowl and slamming her fists at the table repeatedly, he was afraid the legs of the furniture would give way in any second. She was definitely not acting like a girl at all.

"Yeah well, that makes the two of us" he muttered under his breath sarcastically.

With one last violent pound on the table, she moved away from the wall and began to pace back and forth in front of him like a prancing tigress as she spoke, "why does everything have to go up in smoke today? First it was us being ambushed and cornered by these Darenarc parasites, and there was this particular...particular _voluptuous_ redhead trying to behead me during the entire fight."

Genrou's eyebrows rose at her choice of word. If he didn't know any better he would have thought there was even a hint of self-consciousness in her tone. Not that she really had any reason to be depressed. Despite his earlier bad-mouthing about her undeveloped body, Genrou could tell that she would be quite a _handful_. He gave himself a mental slap and managed to drag his eyes off her chest as she continued spouting.

"Then we had to discover Reno's true identity in the worse possible way when he pointed his gun at us! The man who I...I trusted with even my life turned out to be a spy for Darenarc! Ha, how absurd was that?" she laughed hysterically.

And that begin to scare the shit out of Genrou.

Her up and down mood swing was so drastic that he was convinced the girl was mentally unstable. His mind was drawing a blank since he was still unsure of what he should say without enraging her more, especially when he noticed the way her fists were clenched in anger. He may have been unguarded with her abusiveness during all the other times but he wasn't stupid enough to encourage her make a habit out of it.

"I watched him killed Gabriella," she suddenly halted her steps. Her vibrant violet eyes darkened while she stared at a specific area on the moldy wall, though she evidently was reliving the moment in her head. Sadness consumed her at the mention of the name. "She died right before me and there was not a damn thing I could do to save her..." she whispered in a softer tone, her hands now covering her face.

"Whoa! You...You're not weeping on me, are you?" he was afraid she would breakdown and the very thought of women's tears made him go weak at the knees. This was exactly what he meant, one second she was laughing like some lunatic and the next she was close to tears. Reiko was genuinely driving him insane. "You've already tried your best to save-"

She lifted up her head before he could finish and began pacing back and forth again, only more energetic this time. "And apparently evilness has marked me as it's latest victim and decided my birthday wasn't already catastrophic enough, it got me thrown into the world of fairytale filled with a bunch of downright offensive, uncivilized, abusive, bad-mannered, tacky..."

"Hey! Watch it!"

She was completely oblivious to his warning and continued, "...barbarians who can't even get girls without kidnapping them! And just when I finally thought I could teach that ugly ogre a lifetime lesson that I doubt he will ever forget, we got a busybody meddling with my business and ruined everything for me."

Genrou scowled at her insults. "Busybody? Don't forget this 'busybody' saved your ass not once, but twice today!"

Once again, she ignored him as if she was getting a kick of having an one-sided conversation with herself. "Now I am stuck with him in this dark and reeking room. Just when will my bad luck go away?"

Reiko struck the table with another vigorous blow again, the legs finally crumbled. He watched with a wince as the piece of furniture fell into pieces. Now who was acting barbaric? With another huff of breath, she straightened herself with both hands on her hips.

"Wow, that actually felt good."

"It had better improved your damn mood cuz' that was the only piece of furniture in this shack," he grunted, ignoring her glare.

As soon as her eyes were torn away from him, she glanced around and settled on the floor away from the pile of debris. "What were you doing back there anyway? How did you know I was kidnapped? Were you stalking me?"

"Stalking you?" he snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. I have a score to settle with that so-called ogre since he stole our boss position when he died. I would have crippled that fraud by now if you weren't in my way."

Instead of coming up with a retort to her self defense like he had expected, Reiko simply studied him as if he had suddenly grew two heads or something. The intensity of her stare was creeping him out.

"What the hell are you looking at?" he grounded his teeth together and snapped.

"You said 'our boss' just now, so that makes you a...?"

"Of course I am one of the most fearsome bandits of Mount Leikaku! I was also supposed to take over the leadership of our clan," he finished off with a prideful grin.

Reiko slapped her forehead, her hand slowly slid down to cover her eyes as she sighed in exasperation. "Oh boy, why am I not surprise?"

He narrowed his eyes at her comment, his temper grew at her remark. "What does that supposed to mean?"

The unexpected knock at the door caught both of their attentions and broke the brief tension in the room. They turned to face the entrance, Reiko seemed to be on guard but Genrou already knew who it could be since there was only one other man who knew of this secret hideout.

"Who's there?...It's Genrou's best buddy, Kouji, who's here to see him..." To his surprise, Reiko began snickering as Kouji continued. "Ah, Kouji! Glad to see you! Come on in!...Thank you!"

Kouji opened the doors and stepped in. He gave Genrou one of his famous, ever so confident grins as soon as their eyes met in the dark.

"Genrou!"

"Kouji!" he cried, overwrought on reuniting with his best friend after so many months.

Genrou quickly rose to his feet and hurried over to perform their traditional ritual dance. Their arms were instantly hooked together simultaneously and they began hopping in circles laughing and cheering. The bandit dance would have lasted longer but the sudden burst of laughter from the background ruined the moment. Genrou turned to see Reiko was doubled over by now, her hilarity was obviously at his expense. He wasn't sure if he should be glad to see her at least able to find some joy in their dire situation or agitated because she saw them as two grown fools bouncing around in the room.

They broke apart and settled down promptly when Kouji spoke again, his focus on her. "Hey, it's that girl. Good to see that she's safe with you, I was getting a little worried when I left her with Eiken back there."

Genrou grunted in annoyance, "I guess."

Having recovered from her fit of laughter momentarily, Reiko stood up and crossed over to them. She wiped her joyful tears with a finger, inhaling deeply to regulate her rapid breathings. "Ah, that was great, you _fearsome_ bandits, but let's save your stage show until later. We still got some unfinished business to take care of."

He watched her walked to the doors but Genrou immediately moved ahead to block her path. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Was that a real question? I'm going back."

"Are you out of your mind? They will capture you the moment you set foot back in there," Kouji stared at her wide-eyed with disbelief.

"I wouldn't speak if I were you," Reiko turned at Kouji with a glare, her index finger pointing at his nose in an accusing manner. "I swear I'd get even with you for humiliating me once all this is over."

Kouji's eyes widened even bigger in horror, he took a step back in a defensive manner. "Me? I haven't done anything."

"Exactly," she snapped. "You didn't do anything after you left me with that pervert."

"But I didn't have any other choices," he blinked in bewilderment. "Besides, you volunteered yourself. I thought we've been through that conversation already."

Confused, Genrou watched in silence with great curiosity. Evidently he was missing out on something and he was intending to ensure his best buddy would fill him in on what had happened before he showed up in Eiken's den.

"Whatever," Reiko waved her hand in the air dismissively and attempted to move past Genrou to open the door. "I don't have the whole night for this."

He stood his ground, arms folded at his chest. "You're not going, and that's final. I have no idea why you want to go back so desperately but you can hardly handle yourself in that fight earlier."

"I'm sorry, Mother. I didn't realize I needed your permission for anything," she replied with an false smile.

Genrou fumed at her sarcastic insult while Kouji flashed him an amused smirk behind her. This was messed up. His friend actually thought this was funny! He simply had no clue that ever since Genrou met her, he was being forced to face all these conflicts which only seemed to escalate one after another.

"I don't think you're taking this situation seriously enough, you moron!"

"And I don't think you're taking ME seriously enough," she retorted.

He glared at her as she stared back defiantly, so sure of herself and her own abilities. It was uncanny really, she had the same look he wore himself when he was determined to do something. It was almost like looking into a mirror at his own reflection. That was, if he had her boobs, a firm ass and dressed like a whore. Well, if she insisted, he supposed that he couldn't really stop her. Even if they decided to ditch her and go back alone, she would probably still string along with or without their consent.

"Fine," he conceded. "We will go back together but you must run if you can't handle yourself. My hands will be full to be able to help you."

"You should have a little more faith in me," she said without elaborating.

"Wait a second!" Kouji stepped in between them. "You guys are just going to barge back in there like this? Do you even have a plan to go along with your heroism?"

"The plan is we sneak back in as subtly as we can and then..." Reiko paused, contemplating their next move but failed to come up with anything decent.

"Ah, that already sounds like a promising plan!" Genrou mocked as he leaned against the doors.

Kouji knitted his brows together and prompted, "that's it? What about the _rest_ of your plan?"

"Shut up," she yelled. "Either way they will be alert of our return. But I doubt they expect us to go back shortly on the same night. So I say we go back and kick some asses so I can retrieve my belongings while you reclaim your bandit throne. Now let's get moving and stop wasting time."

They watched her opened the doors and walked out, her hips swaying slightly back and forth in a mesmerizing manner.

"How did she do that?"

"Do what?" Genrou asked, partly frustrated and partly confused.

"She just talked us into our suicides," Kouji shook his head and followed after her reluctantly. "I got a bad feeling about this, buddy."

Genrou swore up a storm while his mind was taken up with the very same recitation running through his head.

_Damn! We're really screwed a big time!_

**X X X**

Genrou poked his head out the bushes as he crouched low to the ground. He looked around the clearing in front of him looking for any signs of men that might have been patrolling the area.

"Everything looks clear," he said as he turned to look at Reiko and Kouji. Both shared the same speculative look on their faces. "I don't know what to expect once we get in there so be prepared to get out at a moment's notice."

"He's just a fat man with a fan," said Reiko as she rolled her eyes. "Take away the fan and he's just a fat man."

"But it's getting the fan out of his hands that's difficult," replied Genrou exasperatedly. "You think he's going to let go of the only power he has over everyone else?"

Kouji stepped in between the two before they could argue any further. Again. "We're not going to get anywhere by sitting here arguing all day."

Reiko huffed in annoyance as she looked away. "I just don't understand why everyone is so scared of this guy."

"He's a lowlife scumbag with a deadly weapon in possession, which makes him dangerous," said Genrou as he felt he was talking to a child.

"Bullshit," spat Reiko. "I could beat him using only my pinky finger!"

He snorted. "Sure you could, princess."

Reiko's face turned red with displeasure. "First off, don't call me princess," she spat again as she poked him in the chest. "Second, I could! In fact, I'm gonna do it just to prove it to you! I'll take him out with only my pinky!"

"Enough!" Kouji raised his voice another notch, but quiet enough to not expose themselves. Surely he was frustrated when they were bickering like two dumb kids. "Let's go, now. No more arguing."

"Fine," grumbled Reiko and Genrou without even sparing each other another glimpse.

The three stayed low and ran towards the door, and stopped just outside it as they listened for any possible guards walking around inside. Hearing nothing, Genrou slowly pushed open the wooden doors. As he peered inside he saw nothing but an empty corridor. Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, he motioned for the others to follow him as he slowly pushed the door fully open and walked in.

"Something doesn't feel right," said Genrou as they each took in their surroundings. "I can't believe that he would have no guards around here."

"Maybe he just didn't think we would actually come right in the front door," suggested Reiko.

"No, Genrou is right," replied Kouji. "Eiken isn't stupid enough to be this careless."

Before he could reply, they heard approaching footsteps coming at their direction. The three of them quickly hid behind the wall, crouching down ready for battle. Heedful, they listened as the duo came nearer.

"Hotohori, are you sure you can walk with that injury on your arm? It looks really bad," a young female voice asked.

"Don't worry about me, Miaka. We must hurry before they catch up. Nuriko will stall them for us,"

the man stated, a little desperation could be heard in his tone.

"But we can't just leave. What about Tasuki? We haven't found him yet."

_Tasuki_.

The familiar name that Genrou had yet to grow accustom to; his hidden identity which he had never fully understood the assigned purpose in his life's journey. All he had known since childhood was that he bore an unmistakable red character on his right arm, 'wing'. He had heard of legends handed down by their ancestors through generations about priestesses of the four Gods who were destined to gather their seven celestial warriors so they could summon the Gods to obtain three wishes. But it had never seemed real until now when there were people who seemed to be searching for him. The mark under his sleeve burned while he was trying to make out of all this.

"We can't stay here any longer and risk putting you in danger. Your safety comes first. I will never forgive myself if anything happens to you, do you understand?"

"Hotohori..."

"Hey, it's the two girls who were kidnapped too," Reiko whispered. "I'm impressed that they managed to slip away on their own."

"Girls? Are you blind? One of them is a man," he corrected with a grunt of amusement, wondering how she could be so naive at times to something as trivial as recognizing the gender of a person.

"Don't be stupid. She was cuddling against one of your men earlier and that guy was all over her. So unless you're trying to tell me that you bandits swing the other way if not then she's pretty much a woman to me," she accused with a suggestive smile. Although he knew she was only joking (hopefully), Genrou took offense when his sexuality was being questioned.

"Don't drag me into this! And stop looking at me with that expression!"

Her triumphant smile grew as if she had gotten the upper hand on him. "Don't get all bent out of shape. How was I supposed to know about your sexual interest? I certainly didn't want to offend you."

"The hell you didn't!"

"You two," Kouji spoke firmly, trying to keep the peace. "Keep your voices low or else they will find us here!"

Reiko grunted. "It's not my fault. I guess our soon to be King of thieves is more sensitive than I thought."

"I am _NOT _sensitive at all!" he growled, exasperated by the very suggestion.

"Genrou, watch out!" Kouji suddenly warned with sharp vigilance, prompting him to turn his head around only to find the tip of a sword was pointing threateningly at his nose. He froze with a start. The long haired man who was wielding the weapon held a look of wariness, alarmed. Stood behind him was a young girl dressed in odd outfits quite similar to Reiko's looking at him with big green eyes.

"Hey man, take it easy with that sword," Genrou lulled, not liking to be at the wrong end of a weapon.

Reiko moved to his side in a protective manner, her fingers were placed on the blunt side of the blade. Immediate recognition was shown on their faces when their eyes met. "It's alright. These guys are with me."

The man lowered his sword slowly but not without reluctance.

"Ah, I'm glad you are safe! We were getting worried when you were taken away," the girl named Miaka beamed, sounding genuinely relieved.

"That ogre hardly laid a finger on me. How did you escape?" Reiko asked the duo though she was planting her gaze on that Hotohori fellow. "Where's your friend?"

"Nuriko is fending off a few bandits buying us time to make for a run," some of the discretion in this man's voice lessened.

"I see," Reiko said, still studying his face with a display of keen interest.

"We have to move out of here now, they will be heading our way to search for these two very soon," advised Kouji.

Just when Genrou wanted to offer his opinion to regroup in the cellar, Reiko did the most unimaginable thing. She was fondling the man's chest, drawing all eyes her way.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Genrou and Hotohori both exclaimed with a start, but the other man was clearly in a fit of hysteria.

"Uh..." Kouji was left just as speechless.

"I can't believe this," Reiko muttered, devoid of embarrassment and ignoring all of them. She began groping with both hands now as if that would have made a difference. "I never would have imagined a man can look this feminine."

Hotohori quickly slipped out of her reach and hid behind Miaka for protection. Reiko watched as he folded his arms at his chest defensively. She was evidently astonished as to why the man was acting like an untouchable virgin when she was only caressing his flat chest.

"It's fine, I've been in your shoes when I first met Hotohori too so I know exactly what you're thinking right now," Miaka spoke so matter-of-factly as she patted his back in a comforting gesture.

"They are over there!" a loud cry was heard just when Genrou saw a ball of light coming directly towards him and dove to the side. The rest of the group gathered to take a defensive stance as a dozen of men armed with an assortment of weapons stormed down the corridor. He met their smirks with a stony glare of his own and saw that they were all parting as a heavyset man came into the room with the Tessen slung over his shoulder.

_Argh! So much for being subtle! _He thought with a gloom.

"So you all came back, huh," said a grinning Eiken. "It will certainly make my life easier than to start a search for all of you."

A loud slam came from behind them and the three turned around to see the front door was now closed and a large group of Eiken's men was standing in front of it as well. How on earth did they get behind them to begin with?

"Now," said Eiken, drawing their attention back to him. "Why don't you all surrender and I might be a bit lenient towards you?"

Genrou snorted. "No thanks. I'd like to see you try doing your worse, you scumbag."

Eiken grimaced in anger.

"Nothing is worse than seeing an useful weapon being wasted on such an unskilled overweight man," added Reiko.

"Enough! Look around you," Eiken sneered loudly as he waved his arm in a sweeping gesture. "You're completely surrounded and I still have the Tessen to incinerate you all."

Genrou tried to think of any way at all to take down all these men. There were just too many of them to fight off. And he still wasn't sure how exactly he could do all this and ensure everyone's safety as well.

"I won't say it again," started the fat traitor. "Surrender now or else I will make you suffer the wrath of my Tessen!"

Genrou felt the tension in the air as he held a glaring match with Eiken. Trying to reason with this asshole and hand themselves over was out of the question. Perhaps he could fight his way through the herd, or he could try to steal the iron fan from Eiken first to handicap him before taking him out. So many options and not enough time to think through them all. The choice however was promptly taken out of his hands as a violet-haired woman popped in out of nowhere and wordlessly sprinted towards two nearer men. Before either could react, she grabbed them by their necks and knocked them into unconsciousness by slamming their heads together. The crowd around her looked on in awe at her blatant...man strength!

"Nuriko!"

"Damn, she's strong," Reiko stated, dumbfounded.

Kouji shook his head. "You wouldn't want to mess with that one for sure."

"This is the true power of my celestial warriors!" Miaka beamed excitedly with her arms in the air, all perked up.

"I expect no less from my loyal servant," Hotohori spoke with an evident approval. The violet-haired woman flexed her biceps as she thanked them for their flattery.

"Will y'all cut the bullshit and just focus!" He barked at his allies, wildly furious that they distracted themselves in the middle of a life and death crisis.

Eiken roared as he snapped out of his stunned stupor. "Kill them now!"

"You just take care of Eiken," said Kouji from his side. "Leave the rest of these guys to us."

With a nod Genrou ran forward and leaped over the charging men and landed in front of Eiken, arms raised in a battling stance. "I'm taking that back, it doesn't belong to you."

"Come and get it," said Eiken as he swung the Tessen forward and causing a wave of flames to come at Genrou.

Genrou dove to the side and barely missed being burnt to charcoal. He had to do this quickly. It was a lot less tiring for Eiken to swing that fan than it was for him to run and jump around all night, and he still had all the other men to worry about. He had to time this carefully.

"Take this!" shouted Eiken as he pulled his hand back to swing forward again with the fan.

Genrou watched closely and rolled towards Eiken just as he swung Tessen. He was able to get directly under the attack and in front of the traitor before he had time to react. Genrou quickly rose to his feet, planting his hands on the floor and kicked out at Eiken's knee. A loud snap was heard, followed by Eiken's scream as his leg bent inwards at an unnatural angle. He fell on to his back just as Genrou leapt up and stomped hard on the large man's chest, causing him to let out a wheeze of air and drop the dangerous weapon from his grip. Without missing a beat, Genrou grabbed the Tessen and turned back towards his friends.

Kouji was handling himself admirably just as expected; Hotohori and the woman named Nuriko were also faring skillfully while shielding the girl from attackers, though they gave the impression that they were holding back their true strength. Genrou already suspected they probably thought Tasuki was among these guys and didn't want to chance hurting one of the Suzaku celestial warriors they came seeking for. But little did they know the genuine Tasuki was now fighting alongside with them with his life hanging at the front line. Part of him was honestly stirred at their thoughtfulness even though they had not a single clue of who they were searching for, but it was not enough to impel Genrou to reveal himself.

He dodged a sword that nearly pierced him. Genrou laid a fast heavy punch on the attacker's jaw, knocking him unconscious before looking over his shoulder at Reiko. His eyes widened at her unexpected skill. Judging by the way she was dressed, he had expected her skills to lie in a...different area. But she was more capable than to hold her own against these men. In fact she was outclassing them by a significant margin. But he could tell by her slightly labored breathing that she was draining and would not hold out for much long. Pulling back the fan with both hands, he swung forward and let loose a fireball of his own on to the backs of the men currently fighting her. The screamed out in pain as scorching hot heat lit up their backs and they rolled on the ground in an attempt to put out the fire. Everyone in the room stopped moving to stare at Genrou as he stood in front of Reiko.

"The fight is over" said Genrou as he held out the fan before him. "If anyone wants to keep this up, I won't hesitate to use this."

The men immediately dropped their weapons when they realized their 'boss' was now on the floor twisted in pain. Some had even knelt down already pleading, obviously not wanted to be on the receiving end of the large fires the Tessen was able to produce.

"What do you want to do with that traitor, Genrou?" Kouji asked.

"Lock him up for now, I will deal with him later," he ordered, making sure no one missed the authority in his tone. They watched as a few fellow bandits hauled the moaning traitor to his feet and half dragged him down the corridor.

"Hotohori, are you alright?" Miaka's frantic voice turned all heads their way. "Your arm is bleeding again!"

"Your Majesty, we need a doctor to tend your wound," Nuriko, who possessed a superhuman strength, moved in to support his shoulder. Crimson blood was seeping through the garment but his face was still perfect. This man had the unexplainable ability to appear so...pretty even after everything.

"We don't have a doctor around," Kouji stood next to him to roll up the sleeve to examine the severity of his injury. The slash was deep, jagged edges of the tissues were swelling up. "We will bandage your arm for now and you will have to hold out until dawn."

"Hotohori got hurt because he was trying to save me from the traps in the forest this morning," Miaka's face was unmistakably filled with guilt, eyes brimming with tears. "I'm sorry, it's my fault."

"Please don't blame yourself, this is really nothing. I will be fine."

"Let me take a look," Reiko got around them to inspect his wound. "It's not going to get any better on its own anytime soon judging by the severity of it."

"What are you? A doctor?" Genrou couldn't resist even at a time like this.

"I'm better than a doctor," she flashed him an arrogant smile as she held her hand over the deep cut.

The gasping crowd looked on in surprise when a faint white glow appeared beneath her palm and the deep cut seemed to be mending under her touch. The blood slowly stopped seeping down his arm and the raw skin began to draw together, closing up second by second. Any existence of the previous wound was disappearing before many pairs of eyes. Within moments an injury that should have taken weeks to heal just disappeared. A complete silence bestowed the crowd as everyone was stunned at the sight before them.

"Amazing!" It was the girl who broke the dead air. "How did you do that? Are you a celestial warrior too?"

"No, I-"

"Did you see the light, Your Majesty?" Nuriko asked in awe, cutting Reiko off.

"Yes, it's white. The color representing the power of Byakko."

"No, it's not-"

"Can she be a celestial warrior of Byakko? But it doesn't make sense, wasn't Byakko summoned decades ago?"

"Then how come she still looks so young?" Miaka wondered while studying Reiko's flawless face up close, forcing her to back away from awkwardness.

"Maybe it's her special power that's preventing her from aging," the trio suddenly shared the same look of apprehension as if they had put all the pieces to a puzzle together.

"It must be a nice power to have," Miaka stated with envy, her green eyes sparkling while the other two nodded heads in unison.

Genrou glanced over at the defeated Reiko who looked rather tired and pale. She was obviously hungry, one hand absently rubbing her stomach. Thinking back to this afternoon when they were at the inn, she had barely touched her meal because she was too devastated with the state of affairs. He also doubted that fat bastard would show enough generosity and keep his captives well fed. With a not so gentle shove through the other three, he grabbed her by the arm and pivoted away from the group.

"That's enough, the show's over. Kouji will arrange a few guest rooms for you to stay overnight," he kept his tone calm.

"Wait!" Miaka tugged at his sleeve. "What about Tasuki?"

"Let's get some sleep first, you guys look half dead," he moved past the girl before she could protest, still holding onto Reiko's arm. He wasn't in the right mood to deal with his double identity dilemma right now.

"You know Tasuki?" Reiko asked, her vibrant violet eyes lit up, searching his face for answer. For some reason she seemed to be roused by the mention of that name.

Genrou shrugged. "You should worry about yourself. The others look half dead but you look like hell."

"Me? I'm fine," she waved her hand nonchalantly, slipping out of his grip. "Just a little spent from everything today."

"You're not bad at all. You really kicked ass back there," he commented. Once again she had managed to impress him despite her fragile appearance. The pain she had endured both physically and mentally would have broken most men. But here she was, standing before him with pride and determination.

"Told you to have more faith in me," he couldn't help but grin at the confident smile she was giving him. It was rather pleasing to see compared to the angry scowls she had been showing him since the day they had met.

"And I'm telling you to get yourself some rest before you collapse on me."

For once, she didn't argue back. It was a testament to how exhausted and tense Reiko was that she didn't even bother to question his instructions. As they began to reach for the rooms to settle themselves in for the night, Genrou caught a glimpse of something shiny lying on the floor. Curious, he bent down as Reiko walked ahead and scooped the object into his hands before shoving it into his pocket.

**X X X**

An hour later, Reiko closed the door to her confined guest room and let out a fatigued sigh. Genrou may have talked a lot of nonsense ever since they met but he was dead on about one thing so far. She would seriously collapse if she didn't lay down soon. Being on an empty stomach for the entire day and getting hit in the back of her head twice was already bad enough, but using her healing power was just one thing too many. Under normal situations it would have taken a lot more to deplete her energy levels enough to her breaking point. There had been times in the past where she had driven herself too far and wound up slipping into a coma for days. A haze of blurriness was clouding her vision during supper earlier and neither hunger nor exhaustion had penetrated her numbed mind. But Genrou had insisted that she eat before she got some rest in spite of her objections, and she was actually glad she had listened to him.

With her hunger now sated and no life-and-death cataclysmic situations to take care of, she could finally turn in for the night and hopefully sleep would allow herself to function properly again by the morning. Only then did she allow herself to walk over and collapse onto the small bed, but the hardness of the platform made her grimace with displeasure.

"What is this?" she lifted the blanket and layers of sheer textiles, which she could only assume were bedsheets, covered the hard wooden surface underneath. She gave a test knock at the material and her frown grew. "You've got to be kidding me...This is a bed? Even dog beds are softer than this piece of wood."

Reiko was already missing her large, adjustable mattress back home. That bed had controls that could adjust the temperature and softness of the mattress. This mattress only had one default setting, cold and hard. It made her long for the technology she took for granted in the future, as here in this era she would be lucky to find toilet paper.

_This time period sucks,_ she thought dryly.

Anxiety and uncertainty were beginning to cast a shadow on her senses. How and why she had traveled back to this period of time was already enough of a brainteaser to challenge her intelligence, but to get out of this would be a test in which she might forfeit her life. Daisuke had only given her a month's worth of medicine, which meant she must figure a way out of this world within the next thirty days at most. But could she really unravel the mystery and get back to her own time all by herself? Her area of expertise laid in breaking bones and rending flesh, though she was by no means simple minded. Finding a way home given her current situation was just beyond her.

_If only Reno is here with me...he's great at thinking of ways to get out of situations no matter how disorderly they are._

_**STOP!**_

Reiko scolded herself mentally before her already jumbled mind became more permeated by thoughts of him. Over the past couple of hours it had taken all her willpower, but she had managed to keep the series of painful thoughts and feelings associated with him in the very back of her mind (thanks to all the chaos volleyed her way since her arrival in this world). Now that she was alone, memories were returning with startling clarity. Reiko wasn't certain if she could really stop them even if she tried.

Young love. First love. Betrayed love. Who could forget?

She had been just fourteen when an injured and unconscious Reno was brought in by one of the gate's guards. Reiko had used her healing power to mend and cure his tender wounds. Although the lacerations weren't fatal they were excruciatingly painful, especially for a boy only two years older than herself. But Reno had merely winced at his pain, and that alone had caught her attention and respect. In like manner, Gabriella must have seen the solid bravery in such a young boy for her to grant his stay despite his unknown background.

Ever since then, Reno and Reiko's friendship had slowly blossomed until she had been blown away to discover her involuntary attachment to him, but not one bit surprised to learn it was the same for him as well. At the time she had guessed it could have been as a result of their similar circumstances that they were both homeless orphans with no family or friends. But at least they had learned to accept each other right from the start instead of running away. For a while their relationship seemed to be normal and Reiko enjoyed having a companion to ride out her tough training with, a partner to work together with in their missions and a dear friend to look after her well being.

She plopped down to rest her head on the small rectangular box that passed for a pillow and immediately regretted doing so. The box, which seemed to be made from porcelain, was just as hard as the bed. With a cry of pain, she bolted upright and moved a hand through her hair to see if the existing bump had enlarged. She sucked in a sharp breath as her fingers found the huge lump.

"This time period _really _sucks!" Reiko said aloud to herself, grunting in annoyance when she tossed the 'pillow' aside but not hard enough to shatter it.

"Agreement: I find I share your opinion of this time period myself, Mistress."

"Not only can I not catch a wink of sleep, I smell like an old wet sock because I can't even bathe on a regular basis," she continued, too absorbed in her own frustration to acknowledge another companion.

"Uncertain agreement: Although I do not possess an olfactory sensors, Mistress, judging by your unkempt appearance I would hazard a guess to say that you probably do."

"I don't need to be reminded of my disheveled clothes, thank you very much," she said to herself just as she slowly became aware that she wasn't alone in the room. "Who's there!"

"Disappointed reply: Mistress, do you not recognize me?"

Reiko's eyes grew, realization struck her. She knew exactly who it was that was talking to her. Noticing the small lump under the blanket to her left, she quickly lifted up the fabric to reveal the walking and breathing robotic feline. It's meager face brightened with a smile at once.

Stupid cat. He could have helped Reiko when she was in that outrageous situation caused by the perverted fat ogre. Stupid cat. And he had the nerve to look as if he did absolutely nothing wrong!

"Statement: Greetings, Mistress. It is good to see that you are unharmed."

"Unharmed? Really?" Reiko's hand released the blanket, letting it draped over him. She watched the furry robot scrabbled his way out of it clumsily. "Have you seen the bump at the back of my skull? It's bigger than the size of your brain. So I wouldn't say this is unharmed if I were you."

"Observation: Mistress is displease with me. Is there a reason for that?"

"Because you weren't there when I really could've used your help!" she exclaimed with disbelief at his stupidity while trying to contain her temper at the same time.

"Objection: You have shown that you are more than capable of defending yourself on multiple occasions. That is the main reason which I do not get to use my assassination programming very often!" he defended innocently.

"You still owe me an explanation before I decided to dismantle you on the spot," Reiko threatened nonchalantly, ignoring his last statement even though it was a compliment of her competence.

"Exasperated reply: I was looking for you, Mistress. Though you are loud and obnoxious human, you were exceedingly difficult to find," the dumb cat quickly continued with a feline smile when she flashed him a glare for insulting her. "And as for the humans from this time period, they have never seen a machine before, never-mind a sentient one. I could not simply ask anyone if they had seen you."

"How big is this place? Why weren't you able to find me sooner? Can't you track me down by my scent like any other animals?"

"Lamentable sigh: I am not a real animal! Also, unfortunately I got sidetracked since my outward appearance is so striking. I was accosted by many of the humans along the way, though I wished to impale them through their bowels with my claws, I could not, for fear of discovery," he shook his tiny clawed paws with a hissy fit, his lips were pulled further back to reveal his pearl white fangs.

"You're telling me that some of these bandits found you cute so they held you up and kept petting you, wouldn't let you leave?" Reiko asked, amused by the image of this robotic cat struggling hard to wriggle out of the men's arms, already forgetting about her earlier frustration with him.

"Correction: It was rather disturbing, Mistress! One drunken human even suggested to cook me for late night supper, he said he hasn't eaten a cat before and was curious at what cats taste like!" he pressed his paws against his face, his cat eyes widened in fear as if he was reliving the nightmare again.

"Well then, it's a good thing you're not a real cat, isn't it?" Reiko asked, openly laughing now. "In any case, I will get you caught up to everything later. But firstly, you must tell me the way to return back to my own world, I really don't have much time. Tell me what methods you know of so far."

"Reply: I don't know any."

Reiko froze and said coolly, "what? Repeat that again."

Either he missed the menace in her tone or he chose to ignore it, he repeated himself as he was told. "Statement: I said I don't any possible methods to return back to your time, Mistress."

"Then what are you here for?" She shouted at him in disgust. "You can't fight, you were never around when I needed your presence, now you tell me you don't even know how get us out of here! I'm starting to see no purpose for your existence."

Angry, Reiko swiftly picked up the hard pillow beside her on the bed and raised it above the cat's tiny head. It wouldn't be considered murder if what she was about to destroy wasn't a living being to begin with. His companionship had been nothing but a nuisance. Yes, she supposed this would be a good enough reason to eliminate him since he would only handicap her more in the future.

"Frightened plea: Wait wait!" He cowered to the corner in fear. "But I am useful to you, Mistress! I am an I.A., I can provide you with vast information on anything you would want to know."

"I only want to know how to get home and you can't even do this much! How is you being an intelligent agent a help to me?"

"Statement: Just allow me to prove myself worthy, Mistress! I won't disappoint you!" He shrunk into a fur-ball, his paws shielding top of his head.

Reiko stared at him wordlessly for a few seconds, which was more than enough time to relinquish any thoughts of dispatching this robotic cat. If she was having this much hesitation and difficulties, then she simply couldn't do it without feeling the slightest bit guilty afterward. With a defeated sigh, she dropped the pillow and turned her back to him.

Reiko wanted to remain calm and disdainful; instead, her voice shook with anguish and uncertainty. "I was seriously depending on you to get us out of this place. Now who else can I turn to for help?"

She felt as though her heart had gone into a spiraling free fall. Not like the Suzaku warriors would know, otherwise Miaka wouldn't be stuck here herself to fulfill her role as the Phoenix God's priestess. The worst part was...at least she could still return back to her own world once she completed her quest and obtained her three wishes. But Reiko wasn't a priestess of any sort, so how could she return home?

The cat inched closer to her. When Reiko didn't protest, he put his paw on her leg as a sign of comfort. "Statement: Mistress...I'm sorry."

"Wait a minute, what if we help Miaka to complete her quest and we ask her to grant me a wish in return so I can go back to my world? That might work!" She asked, highly excited with her new idea.

"Reply: No, Mistress! Definitely not! You can't get involved with their business!"

"Why not? And it better be a convincing reason too," Reiko squinted her eyes at him but chose to listen with patience.

"Reply: Because your existence in this period of time was an accident. You traveled through time simply because you were at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Now that you are in this universe, if you do anything, even the slightest change may alter the course of history. That can lead to unimaginable consequences, possibly wiping out your own existence from the future too."

Reiko tried to digest the cat's account of premonition and decided maybe he was stretching the warning out of proportion. "Aren't you exaggerating a bit too much?"

"Exasperated reply: I am not, Mistress. You must listen to me and not do anything which may affect the outcome of the future while you stay here! One thing you must keep in mind too, everything happens for a particular reason. For any events or people you may encounter in the future, they all have their own destinies already mapped out for them. If you try to alter fate, you may be helping one person for the time being but you may also being doing more harm to someone else in the future. This is really important so you must not forget!"

But hadn't her arrival in this world already altered the history, accident or not? Everything she did or didn't do could have drastic consequences on the future and she hadn't even considered that in everything she had done up until now.

"Then what's the destiny for Miaka? Was she able to complete her quest and return to her own world in the end?"

The cat was quiet but his silence was deafening.

"Does your silence mean no...?" Reiko pressed, couldn't help but to worry about the young priestess's fate. Although they barely knew each other, Miaka seemed to be a very kind and cheerful person. The passage to her sealed destination in life wouldn't be an easy one, Reiko already knew that much. But it would be pitiful to watch the poor girl reach the end of her journey and suffer so much in vain.

"Nervous reply: no, my silence signifies that I do not know."

Without uttering another word, Reiko raised the hard pillow in her hand and prepared to smash the cat to pieces. He gasped and yelped for Reiko's mercy, jumping off of the bed. She wanted to chase after him but the sudden knock to the door halted her. With a reluctant look at the pillow and then to the shivering cat hidden under the table, she tossed the boxed weapon back onto the bed and walked over to open the door. Genrou stood at the doorway, with a bowl in his hand.

"Hey, I thought you might still be awak-" He cut himself off as soon as he looked at her right shoulder, his amber eyes widened. "What the hell! Where did that cat come from?"

Reiko didn't even realize the robotic cat had clawed his way up to her shoulder and she hadn't even felt anything either. "It's my-"

"Meow, meow..."

Reiko watched the damn cat through her narrowed eyes as he imitated the feline sounds in front of Genrou. She may not be a genius or a scholar, but she wasn't simple-minded either to not catch his obvious innuendo of not wanting to reveal himself as a robotic cat that could speak and think.

She turned to Genrou again and answered, "You're asking me? I found him under my blanket. Just a stray cat that managed to sneak in here but don't you worry, I'm getting rid of it tonight."

The cat understood the hidden implication to Reiko's words and he quickly purred affectionately in her ear as if his displayed cuteness would have any effect on her. She swatted him off her shoulder, sending him flying to the ground, not caring if he landed face first.

"Are you always this abusive?" Genrou asked with a note of amusement in his tone.

"Only to cats, especially useless ones. Anyway, I'm really exhausted so if you have something to discuss then can it wait until tomorrow? I want to get some slee-"

He shoved the bowl of hot food in her face before she could finish her sentence. Reiko stared at it, confused. "What's this? More food?"

"It's egg noodles."

She frowned, still not quite sure of what to make out of this and his weird behavior. ""Yeah...okay, I can see that. But I'm still full from the meal earlier. I can't eat anymore of this."

Genrou gritted his teeth in frustration since she was obviously missing something. "You stupid girl, we eat noodles for birthday celebrations here."

Reiko could only stare at him with raptness and a wide-eyed concentration that revealed the intensity of her surprise at his unexpected thoughtfulness. She was genuinely loss for words but slowly and carefully took the bowl from his hand.

"I don't know where you're from but this is the tradition for our culture. Long noodles symbolize a long life so you must eat it," he explained but when Reiko hadn't said anything for a long moment, he continued. "I know its cheap stuff, but we don't have anything good up here."

That knocked Reiko out of her stupor and she quickly shook her head, not wanting him to misinterpret her silence any further. "Ah...no, it's not that. It's great, really. I just...I never imagined you would be the first to celebrate my 16th birthday. I didn't expect any of _this_ from you at all. It's been a while since someone has cooked for me on my birthday."

Her mind went back all the birthdays she'd had since she could remember really and realized that it had been a long time since anyone had made food for her on her birthday. Even Reno hadn't been this... genuine. Sure he had taken her out to dinner but then they'd known each other for years. This man had known her for all of a day and he willing to go through this much trouble for her. She hadn't felt this touched in a while.

"It's just a bowl of noodles, what are you so excited for? Girls are so weird sometimes. I'm gonna go and catch some sleep myself." He yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "You should too, you really look like a mess."

Reiko didn't need him to tell her how much of a mess she looked right now to know she probably looked awful and as white as a sheet of paper. Her legs were already weak from standing and were trembling slightly. But those were all things that could be fixed with a good night of sleep. She watched as he began to walk away.

"Genrou?"

He stopped and turned his head to her. "What?"

"Thanks for your noodles," her words were breaking a little as she struggled to speak, though she wasn't so sure if she was just too emotional or she had simply overexerted herself with all that had happened today. "And for everything else. I do honestly appreciate your help despite what you may think."

His expression revealed nothing more when he just nodded at her, as if he understood what she meant. "Just stop hitting me, your punches really hurt, ya know."

Reiko laughed and watched him disappear around the corner. In the beginning, Genrou had appeared to be an ignorant blockhead who kept getting in her way. But now as she looked down at the bowl of warm noodles in her hands she felt grateful for their meeting when she came to his world. Perhaps he wasn't as intolerable as she first thought after all. And maybe...just maybe, they really could be friends.

**X X X**


	4. Chapter 4: Troubling Discovery

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fushigi Yuugi. This amazing anime was created by Yuu Watase. I only created Reiko and a few side characters.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX **

**A Kiss of Fate **

**By: Sweet Daydreamer **

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX **

**Chapter 4: Troubling Discovery**

Reiko bolted up in panic with beads of sweat coating her forehead, and her top clinging snugly against her damp body. Her breathing was loud and heavy but it was her erratic heartbeat that was difficult to control. Sunlight shone through the closed paper windows on her far right and Reiko turned to stare at the bright rays which hurt her eyes a little. Maybe if she stared hard enough, she could forget about the image of the Queen's colorless face covered with blood that haunted her vision. Taking in her unfamiliar bedroom, her mind slowly shifted back to reality. The Queen's death was too sudden. Everything that happened yesterday seemed unreal to her. It was like a long, tormenting nightmare that she would forever be trapped in and could not wake from.

Frowning, Reiko rose from the hard bed and walked over to her bag of belongings that had been returned to her after the confiscation. She found what she was looking for and even with her shaky fingers, Reiko managed to open the lid to the small container filled with blue capsules with little effort. She popped one into her dry mouth and forced a swallow without water. Fiddling with the bottle in her hand, she reminded herself that no time could be wasted here if she wanted to return back to her own period of time before the supply of medicine ran out. It was the one and only temporary cure to prolong her lifespan before she took a turn for the worse.

It had been a long time since her will and strength were being put to test when she was all alone like now. Reno had been at her heels every step she had taken, providing her with unlimited support, but this time would be different, and it would never be the same again. He had chosen to destroy the boundless friendship they shared, the undefined trust she had in him. He had chosen to become her nation's enemy now, to become _her_ enemy. If that was what he wanted then Reiko wouldn't yield herself to any lingering emotions she still held for him. She wanted nothing more than to find out the reason for his betrayal. She wanted him to tell her eye to eye before she made him pay for his crime. She promised she would not hold back. Out of old habit, her fingers searched for the pendant around her neck as a form of comfort and reassurance, only to realize that it was gone.

Dismay washed over her for a moment as she recalled that the pervert stole her pendant when they were inside his chamber last night. Reiko dismissed her disappointment the best she could. It would be better this way so that she could cut off all ties to Reno. She had to learn to repress any feelings and memories of him if she was determined to seek revenge for the Queen. With a quick intake of breath, Reiko turned for the door to wash up and get some drinking water. She passed by the robotic feline and to her surprise, found that he had been resting at the corner of the room the entire night. At least he knew better than to sneak into the bed and risk a savage beating from her. Ignoring him, she stepped out of the room.

Without the slightest clue as to where the restroom was located, she decided to test her luck by turning to her right and started down the hallway. Reiko came upon a room which she could instinctively tell was a kitchen as the wafting aroma of freshly steamed buns teased her nostrils and made her mouth water. Perhaps having a small breakfast stop before she continued her tour around this ridiculously big bandit stronghold could be a good start to her day. When she gave a gentle push at the door, two distinctive male voices caught her attention. Reiko would have approached them openly if it wasn't for the mirror somber expressions on their faces.

"Are you sure it's alright to tell them that?" Kouji asked, sounding concerned.

Reiko decided to not go in and interrupt their conversation when she assumed they were likely discussing something personal that they might not want others to overhear. She would have turned away and continued looking for the restroom if it wasn't for what she heard next.

"Yeah," Genrou's reply was casual. "Tell them Tasuki is dead so they won't be wasting their time searching for him out here."

Reiko's ears naturally perked up at the name. She swore on her parents' graves that it wasn't her intention to eavesdrop but this was too huge and shocking to ignore. Were they talking about the same Tasuki, the Suzaku celestial warrior whom Miaka was looking for? The figure of her childhood crush was dead? No frigging way! Although she had forgotten most parts of the tale, she knew for sure that Tasuki was part of the legend. There had to be some misunderstandings.

"Hey man, you know I've got your back on this one but you sure you won't have any regrets?"

There was a pause. "Yo, it's for the best! I can't just leave my boys up here to fend for themselves again. Look what happened after I left here for only a few months. That fat fuck turned this place into a hellhole! I can't let that happen again."

Kouji nodded but not without reservation. "I just don't want you to look back in the future and wish you could have done things differently, man, especially when you were fated to serve the Suzaku priestess. I'm with you on this one as long as you're cool with it."

Dumbfounded, the confused Reiko was trying to piece together what she learned. So Tasuki wasn't dead. Of course he was very much alive and kicking. And that special individual whom Miaka and her friends were searching for…was Genrou. Really, no joke. Genrou, of all people was one of the destined Suzaku warriors. The very same loudmouthed and grouchy Genrou, the bandits' leader was chosen to be the priestess' guardian. But now Genrou decided to fake his own death so that they could give up looking for him and he could resume his position as the bandits' leader here. As insane as that sounded it wasn't the biggest blow to her.

The first thought that rushed to her mind was…how was it possible that the real Tasuki before her and the one from the fairytale were so different? Reiko wasn't only shocked beyond words but she was also very much embarrassed by the fact that she had ever considered the character Tasuki to be her Prince Charming during her childhood. She even remembered announcing to her father that she would very much be more than willing to be his bride! Now, she was simply glad that no one could hold a child responsible for her naïve ideals.

"Thanks, bud. We should feed those guys quickly and get them out of here before this gets any more complicated," Genrou groaned as he picked up the plate of steamed buns. "Did you see how much food that strange girl pigged out on? We should probably just feed her a horse at this rate!"

"I find that more disturbing than funny to picture," Kouji almost shuddered at the mental picture, making Genrou laughed.

The two men moved their way towards the exit only to discover a still very petrified Reiko standing by the door. Their faces blanched with shock.

"Rei-Reiko!" Kouji started. "Have you been standing here this whole time?"

"Hey, you! Did you hear what we were talking about inside?" Genrou shouted with evident anger.

Reiko could only stare back at him, shaking her head numbly. She felt as if her heart dropped and was trampled upon. Who was this man before her that she thought she knew? In all those daydreams she'd had, she never imagined that this was what he'd be like if he was real. Her mind needed a moment to fully process this big letdown and the enormity of what she was hearing.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Genrou repeated, waving a hand in front of her face to get her attention. "Is eavesdropping your damn specialty or something? Why do you always listen in on my conversations behind the door?"

She could almost cry tears of disappointment but she didn't, a jerk like him didn't deserve the tears of a sorrowful maiden such as herself!

"How dare you!" she suddenly screamed. Quicker than Genrou could react, she punched him in the stomach with surprising strength.

Genrou wanted to reply but could not as he bent over and desperately tried to get air back in his lungs.

"For a girl your size, you certainly have some strength in you," Kouji was clearly amazed.

"This isn't the time to be impressed, you idiot!" Genrou barked angrily at his friend as he wheezed from her surprise attack. "And you, what the hell was that for?"

"For ruining an impressionable young woman's beautiful image of a man that most certainly does not exist all thanks to YOU!" she said in one long breath.

"Beautiful image of a man…wait, what?"

Reiko stuck her open palm in front of his face. "Please refrain yourself from speaking to me for the time being. I need a moment alone to cope with these traumatic events and clear my mind. I feel like I'm going to faint if I'm in your presence for one more minute."

She sighed at him one last time as she spun around and left the two men dumbfounded.

"What the hell are you blabbering about? You still haven't answered my question!" Genrou shoved the plate of food into Kouji's hands and ran after her. "Don't try to distract me with your nonsense! Where do you think you're going? Get your ass back here and answer me, you little runt!"

Reiko ignored his offensive calls and questioned why life had to be so cruel to her, destroying her one and only childhood fantasy this way. It was really unfair…

**X X X**

Genrou had had a decent night sleep and woke up to mild weather. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the only thing that could ruin it were the two strange girls who had suddenly dropped into his life. One who claimed to be the rumored Suzaku priestess had been pestering him at every chance she had, probing him with questions and asking for Tasuki's whereabouts. It was only when he finally told them the fabricated death of their celestial warrior that he'd gotten her to stop, but her saddened expression had made his stomach twist with guilt. The decision was an easy no brainer, really. Instead of following some random girl on a silly little journey to complete a quest to save the country that he had no interest in, he'd very much prefer to take up his duties here as the new leader and watch over his friends and comrades. But as righteous as his reasons may have sounded, Genrou knew he wasn't completely guilt-free with his final choice either. A very, very small part of him unmistakably desired to carry out his divine commitment to the priestess. It was part of his destined path in life. The problem was that there was only one Tasuki and he couldn't possibly make both sides happy even if he wanted to. The priestess would just have to continue on with her adventure without him.

The feelings of guilt his choice presented were bothersome but it was something that he could deal with. The feelings of going batshit crazy because of Reiko's mood swings was another matter entirely however. If a man was asked to describe what made girls so scary, he would tell you it'd be their moodiness, and that defined Reiko perfectly in every sense. Last night when he showed up at her door with a bowl of noodles, she seemed to be softened by his gesture as if it was something unexpected but appreciated. Why she was so strangely affected, he didn't know. This morning however she was so furious at the first sight of him, that she had delivered a solid punch to his gut that made him want to hurl last night's dinner. He had no clue why she had acted so violently when she was the one being rude by eavesdropping on his conversation!

He wasn't sure if Reiko had heard everything that he and Kouji were talking about in the kitchen, but if she had, then she was doing an amazing job of hiding it. She hadn't said a word about it in front of the others yet, which somewhat gave both Genrou and Kouji a peace of mind.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality!" Miaka smiled on as she bowed in front of them. "The beds and foods were really comforting."

"Ah, you're welcome. It's the least we can do to thank you guys for your help last night," Kouji replied with a smirk.

"It's unfortunate about Tasuki though. We were hoping to find him up here so we could perform the summoning ritual as soon as we gather all seven celestial warriors," Nuriko added.

Genrou shifted a little involuntarily while Kouji cleared his throat. "It is too bad about Tasuki but we shouldn't let this obstacle delay us! I'm sure we can find another way to summon Suzaku," Miaka cheered on with unusual optimism.

"What are your next plans?" Kouji asked.

"We will continue our search for the remaining warriors. We won't give up now!" Miaka's limitless determination stirred something inside of Genrou, he couldn't decide whether it was respect or admiration. Maybe it was little of both.

"Your enthusiasm is a bit intimidating," grumbled Genrou quietly to himself. He'd had enough of this and just wanted them to get moving. Looking at her guardians, he noticed that they both shared the same level of optimism as Miaka.

As his eyes roamed from person to person, his gaze fell across Reiko and noticed the way she was glaring at him with squinted eyes. Again. He wasn't sure what that look was for, whether it was annoyance or anger. It clearly wasn't friendly in any case and she had been giving him such hostile looks all morning. Even now as Miaka went over to thank Reiko for her help in healing Hotohori, Reiko was only half paying attention. The other half of her attention rested solely on him as she continued with that uncomfortable squinty glare of hers. He had tried to ignore her creepiness and carry on with his meal but every time he looked up, he saw her sending him the death glare. It felt like she was almost trying to kill him with her thoughts, if that was at all possible.

"Well," said Miaka cheerfully as she looked at everyone. "We've got a long day ahead of us so we will be on our way now! Please take care, everyone!"

There was a chorus of affirmatives and the trio got on the horses that Genrou had kindly arranged for them. He saw that Reiko had briefly turned to give Miaka a small smile and waved, but soon turned back to him all too quickly. She gave him one last baleful look, sighed, then shook her head and walked away. He had enough of this.

"Hey!" he shouted after her retreating figure. "What's your problem with me anyways?"

She pointedly ignored him and kept on walking, agitating Genrou further. He quietly brooded in silence while he kept thinking about all their interactions together and tried to come up with a good explanation for her reaction and more infuriating of all, why he seemed to care. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned behind him to see Kouji with a troubled look on his face.

"Are you really sure it's okay to let them go like this?" he asked. "They might need your help, you know."

Genrou was about to offer a quick retort but tried to center himself. Though they'd had their differences, he couldn't in all honesty find it in himself to really say that it was fine to leave things as they were. His conscience simply wouldn't allow it and having second thoughts last minute like this wasn't very persuasive either. But what really made him think twice about watching them walk out was this growing need inside him to do something to aid Miaka. He didn't know why, but there was a feeling that was gnawing at him that seemed to compel him to go. He didn't like what that was really saying about him, not one bit at all.

**X X X**

Reiko sat quietly on a large log as she watched a few of the bandits sparred with one another. She would have joined in the harmless competition if her mind wasn't so overloaded. The cat settled himself at her feet and looked up.

"Question: Mistress, why do you have such a contemplative look? Is something the matter?"

"I don't feel like talking about it so don't ask." She warned her little furry companion, who knew better than to disobey. Kouji approached her from across the field.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, rather too politely for the supposedly fearsome second in command bandit of Mt. Reikaku.

"Sure, why not?" Reiko and her cat moved over to make room for him. He sat down but his attention was on the feline.

"Eh? Why is there a cat here?" The little animal purred in delight like a real cat when Kouji petted him on the head. "You are a cute little fellow, aren't you?"

He purred again. "Is there something you want to talk to me about?" She asked impatiently, still edgy after her shocking discovery.

"So," he began, still scratching that damn cat's head. "Did you also come from a different world like Genrou said you did?"

She sighed in exasperation. "You think I'm crazy too?"

An amused grin spread across his face. "I might have thought that too if the Suzaku priestess didn't show up at our doorstep like she did."

"I can only imagine how much easier it was for Miaka to convince others of her story without them thinking she's a nutcase and dragging her to see a doctor."

Kouji laughed this time. "Sometimes Genrou acts before his brain even has the time to think but he's a great guy. You will see once you get to know him more."

She wouldn't doubt that but she had also seen the obnoxious, egotistical and impetuous side of his personality, which was a lot different than the image she'd had of him as a child. Why couldn't he be less annoying, vulgar and rude and be more mild-mannered? Then perhaps that would make his character seem cooler like how heroes in fairytales should have been. No one could possibly understand the depth of her disappointment in this matter.

"Unforgivable," she voiced out her inner thoughts subconsciously, her eyes were narrowed and fists were clenched.

"He really didn't mean any harm when he took you to that doc," Kouji started defending his friend, assuming she was still holding grudges. "Genrou just isn't a very smooth talker around girls."

Reiko laughed, without humor. "I found that out firsthand already and I'm sure it couldn't be any worse than what I've experienced."

Kouji scratched the back of his head, momentarily at a loss for words. It was hard to defend the man when he had insulted her in the rudest ways possible. "What are your plans then? Have you decided what you're going to do next?" He asked, changing the topic rather too obviously.

"I need to find a way to return back to my own time," fast, she added mentally, thinking her time was running out by each passing hour.

"I understand but at the meantime you are more than welcome to stay here with us since you have nowhere to go."

Kouji's kind offer brought about a warm feeling inside. "Oh, before you get all tearful on me, it was actually Genrou's idea."

"Why…?"

He shrugged. "He said you have no friends to turn to in this world so he thinks it's better if you stay here until you can go back home."

"Maybe he should figure out what he should do first. Him faking his own death just so he can cheat his own fate as a Suzaku warrior isn't very creditable if you ask me."

The harsh words flew out of her mouth before she could even stop herself. Sometimes when she was emotionally overwhelmed she just ended up being terribly blunt. Having mixed feelings towards him wasn't helping much either.

Kouji's eyes widened. "So you did hear everything back there! But…why didn't you say anything? Or at least try to convince Genrou to go with them?"

It was her turn to shrug. "He's a grown man, he doesn't need others to dictate what he should do with his own life."

Part of that was the reason but it was also because Reiko didn't want to get involved. If what the robotic cat had told her was true, then she better not mess around and risk changing history in this era. The dire consequences of affecting the future were simply too much for her to be accountable for. Besides, Reiko already knew he would join Miaka according to the legend. It was only a matter of time for him.

"They said the girl in the city has a pair of nice slender legs," one of the guys in the field said to his fellow bandits, diverting Reiko's attention. "But she and the guy with her both wear strange clothes."

"Eh? Suddenly there are so many of those weirdoes walking around the cities. Where do they all come from?"

"Beats me, but I certainly don't mind having more of those girls with no pants to be around," the men chuckled.

Reiko felt her heart bursting with excitement as she ran up to them, eager for possible leads, yet also bracing herself for possible disappointment.

"Where did you see the pair? Were they also dressed differently than the rest?" She asked, no longer able to contain herself.

The men tossed each other puzzled looks. "Yeah, they both were dressed funny, especially the girl. She wasn't wearing much. They were last seen in the city of Kuto. I must say it was quite a scene for them to walk down the street."

"I would believe so," again the guys started laughing but Reiko was too exhilarated to care.

It must be Mylene and Damon, her mind screamed with both anticipation and relief. Reiko had been too preoccupied ever since she had arrived here. It hadn't crossed her mind that the siblings could have been sent to this world with her too. But now that there had been reported sightings of those two, she must hurry to them. This would definitely improve their chances of going back to their time if they worked together to come up with a feasible plan. Three minds would always be better than one.

Reiko turned to find Kouji was already standing next to her, probably overhearing the whole conversation. "I must leave now! I have to find my friends before it's too late to catch up with them!"

"But I can't let you go by yourself. At least let Genrou know about this first."

"Where's Genrou? I'll tell him before I leave," Reiko asked impatiently, her feet were moving restlessly.

"He went after the priestess and her two protectors. But he left in a haste so he will be back to pack his belongings tonight before he goes with them back to the palace."

"He-he did what?" her brows arched up at the new revelation. He changed his mind way faster than she expected.

At least he showed a bit more integrity now and she was genuinely happy for him to acknowledge and accept his role at last. His journey as a celestial warrior would bring him much joyful laughter as well as tearful sorrow, ultimately it would be a lifetime experience he would never regret undergoing. Suddenly, realizing that this would be their last day together, she felt like she would be missing him despite his annoying behavior at times. He may not have met her idealistic expectations of him, but he was still a good person with a kind soul. If only she could afford to spend more time with him then perhaps one day they could really become true friends. Unfortunately time was one of the many things she wasn't granted, especially when her life was literally depending on it.

**X X X**

Nakago leaned back against the umber wooden chair, his expression was revealing nothing more than exercised calmness as usual, his eyes on the two young spies standing before him. Hands clasped behind themselves and legs slightly spread in a prepared stance, they were ready to take actions at his command. They looked like the Kuto soldiers that Nakago had trained them to be. Except to him, these were mere puppets disciplined to do his biddings and performed as expected. If his standards were not met, Nakago had no problems disposing of anything or anyone who no longer proved to be an asset to himself.

"The Priestess of Suzaku is currently with two protectors on her journey. They are searching for the fifth celestial warrior at Mount Reikaku. Besides the little run in with the territorial bandits they had, nothing extraordinary is happening," one of the spies reported on his close observation as he was instructed.

As the leader of the Seiryuu warriors and the highest rank general of Kuto, Nakago was eminently recognized for his charisma and stratagem. He wasn't a man to engage into battles of any sort without careful contemplation and planning to secure his chance of personal dominance. The Suzaku warriors so far had displayed some measure of strength in combat, Nakago conceded. Unfortunately for the pets of the Phoenix priestess however, this battle was not only about brute force but also a competition of wisdom and mental dexterity; and clearly theirs were no match to his.

Being educated of your enemies' every move and keeping them under the light while you stayed in the darkness was only one of the many strategic expediencies Nakago often utilized in his years of warfare. This allowed him to always be steps ahead of his enemies and it would be beneficial if he decided to throw them a few curves along their path. But right now, he wasn't sure what the value was in this irrelevant report he just heard when he was already well informed of their plans to search for the remaining Suzaku warriors.

"And?" Nakago's tone was cold and unfeeling. "You must have more to report if you chose to leave your posts without my permission."

The spies bowed down to their general's distinguished shrewdness with respect and continued. "Yes, my lord. In the midst of conflict, the group met a girl who appeared to be with the bandits. But this girl exhibits special healing powers and emitted a bright white light when using her power."

"White light?" Nakago's slight change of tone was the only sign showing his interest in this new piece of information.

"Yes, my lord. She also seems to be a strong fighter with decent skills. We have yet to verify her identity, but we thought that it was important to bring this to your attention. What will be your new command, my lord?"

This was indeed an interesting change of events, as it seemed that good fortune was again bestowed upon his enemies. For all her faults, the Suzaku priestess had displayed a knack for getting herself out of dangerous situations time and time again. She was often able to rely on her protectors, as well as a curious number of strangers that were always more than willing to help. But luck could only get one so far, and Nakago never believed in anything or anyone except himself. When the right time came, he would put her blessings to test again.

"Continue with the observation on the priestess and report back to me if there is anything unusual again," Nakago instructed with an unmistakably tone of authority.

They bowed. "Shall we keep on eye on the girl too, my lord?"

"No," came the quick reply. "My main interest only lies on the priestess of Suzaka."

"We understand, my lord. We will take our leave immediately," the spies exited the room quietly after Nakago dismissed them with a simple lift of his hand.

The possibility of this new girl emerging as a latent threat to his plans was unlikely, given that she evidently wasn't one of the Suzaku warriors. Although she may just be a passing aid to the priestess, Nakago could not deny the curiosity he held towards the white light that coincided with her unknown power.

Swiftly, Nakago left the room also and strolled towards the chamber which was now detaining the priestess' most favored pet. He peered through the slightly opened door and saw the Seiryuu priestess dining with her objection of affection. It was almost an absolute guarantee to find their priestess lingering in this room here, spending most of her time with their captive these days.

Nakago was amused rather than revolted by the idea of two close friends falling in love with the same man. Both girls whom swore their loyalty to one another were now being torn apart and pitted against each other as enemies all because of one man. Though he had to admit, manipulating Yui with jealousy and his web of lies was a lot easier than he had first expected. All this only came to prove how fragile friendships could be and it was something Nakago could do without. Soon, very soon, his plans would all fall into place and he would be granted a wish; a wish that he had been yearning for all these years of waiting.

**X X X**

It was early dawn the next day when Tasuki and Kouji walked Reiko out of their hideout, with the puny black cat trailing after her. Tasuki looked on in curiosity at the scene. It was an odd scene as Reiko really didn't seem the nurturing type, nevermind a cat person.

He sighed as he looked at the girl next to him warily out of the corner of his eyes. She had done nothing but annoy him since she had woken up and complained of backaches from sleeping on the bed she'd been provided. She should have been a little more grateful that they had even supplied her with a room and bed to sleep in, but this brat was apparently very unappreciative of his efforts. Did she sleep on clouds where she was from or something? No matter, she decided to leave today anyways to find those siblings she'd been so bent on looking for since his boys had mentioned them yesterday.

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" he asked, a little worried for her safety. "I'm not so sure that you'd be able to reach Kuto on your own without a local guide, you know."

"I'll be fine with the map Kouji gave me. I can take care of myself," she replied while rolling her bare shoulders. She really needed a change of clothes if she didn't want to stand out so much in the crowd and cause more trouble. "Just my luck to be stuck in a time period where there are no soft cushiony mattresses," she whined again like some damn spoiled brat.

"I haven't seen anything that reassures me of your ability to take care of yourself," he snorted with no trace of amusement, ignoring her complaint.

She narrowed her eyes, not liking the implication that she was not capable of being independent. "Well you'll just have to trust me now, won't you?" she asked through gritted teeth. "Besides, I must hurry before my two friends leave the city or I'll have a more difficult time tracking them down on my own."

"It's too bad that Tasuki has to go with Miaka and I cannot leave my place as the temporary leader of the stronghold now," Kouji relented. He shoved his hands in his pockets, also feeling uneasy with Reiko's stubborn decision. They weren't really friends, but in the short time that they'd known her, she'd at least become more than an acquaintance. That meant that they didn't feel comfortable with the idea of sending her off on her own into danger. At the same time, he also understood how eager and desperate she would be about returning home with her allies.

As Tasuki tried to think of something else to say, his fingers brushed against a bundle of metal in his pocket that he had completely forgotten about. Realizing that he'd still had possession of her necklace since after the fight that night, he grasped at it and started to remind her but he was cut off by an excited squeal that he did not think could possibly come from the very unfeminine Rieko.

"Oh. My. God!" she exclaimed with excitement. "It's a horse!"

"…yes. It's a horse," Tasuki replied with uncertainty, wondering if this was her first time seeing a horse. This girl just got weirder with each passing day.

"Maybe they don't have horses where she came from?" Kouji shrugged with amused grin.

"She's as beautiful as my motorcycle at home and I bet it's just as fun to ride!"

"A moto- what?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. You guys won't understand even if I tell you," said Reiko smiling with joy as she pointed at the horse in front of her. "She and I are going to be together for as long as possible!"

"Are you sure you know how to ride a horse?" Tasuki asked with a smirk, it was a deliberate challenge. But his doubts were removed from his mind as soon as he saw her jump on the horse with ease and put her into a quick trot around them. She had the finesse of a rider of many years. But the movements hiked up her short skirt to her upper thighs, barely covering her ass. He wanted to kick himself when he realized that Kouji was also tracing the shape of her legs with his eyes. Maybe giving her a horse to ride around in towns polluted with dirty-minded men was a bad idea after all.

Laughing heartily as if she was truly enjoying herself, Reiko reined the horse smoothly to a stop and dismounted from her with grace. "That was so much fun!"

Kouji grinned with his famous charming smile. "She's pretty tame and she's also the fastest one in the herd."

"Thank you."

His smile was replaced with a look of surprise as Reiko threw her arms around his neck out of excitement, a friendly hug that caught him off guard. Almost as fleeting as it had happened, she stepped away and unstrapped the harness of the odd looking luggage she'd been carrying on her back. They watched as she dug into it and pulled out some weirdly shaped objects.

"I don't have anything to valuable on me but I think these would do. Please take them as my token of appreciation, they will come quite handy for you guys," she said when she handed them to Kouji.

"You didn't have to give us anything," Kouji replied, already examining the gifts he was given with great curiosity.

"These ones," she begun as she held up the cylinder items that were smaller than her hand, "are the sleeping gas bombs. It will put your enemies to sleep for a good few hours but it's not toxic so it won't kill them. It's useful if you ever get caught up in a nasty situation and are outnumbered. You just have to press this tiny button right here on the bottom to release the gas before you toss it towards your enemies. Easy and simple!"

Reiko showed him other bead-sized circular objects next, they were so small that it was hardly noticeable. "These are really awesome. They are frozen traps that cover a surface area as far as two feet. You just have to place them on areas where you want to launch the traps and as soon as anything, humans or animals, come within a foot of them they will be frozen in a block of ice."

Tasuki tried to act all nonchalant but he couldn't help himself from bending his ear and listening with interest. It was impossible for him not to believe she really came from the future when she had all these bizarre yet fascinating items that they had never seen or heard of before.

"There's also a button for you to press right at the top here," she continued with her lecture. "But you must keep in mind that you will have only 20 seconds to get out of range, or you will also be frozen by the trap. It's not even funny when that happens and I'm speaking from personal experience."

"I won't ask," Kouji's said, jaw dropped in awe, obviously also fascinated by the weapons of her time. "Thanks a bunch, Reiko! We will put them to good use."

Smiling, Reiko gave him a soft punch on the shoulder and turned to Tasuki. He quickly spun his head to the opposite direction to feign indifference.

"I guess this is it," she started with her head lowered, and fidgeting in awkwardness. "I'm usually not very good at farewells but I'd still like to thank you for everything."

Tasuki wasn't very comfortable with saying goodbyes either. It was all so final, and he liked to think that anyone he'd come to at least tolerate would be someone he'd keep in touch with. Of course, he still wasn't sure just what she was to him. Friend? Annoyance? It was very confusing and frustrating and he didn't know how to put what he was feeling into words. Before he could even think of a halfway decent reply she started speaking in a rush.

"You were the first person I met when I came to your world and even though we started off on the wrong foot from the very beginning, and although you disappointed me greatly when you turned out being nothing close to what I'd imagined you to be, especially when you can so arrogant, egotistical, vulgar-"

"Hey! Watch it or else I'm going to make you regret ever saying those words!" He couldn't believe she was still in the mood for insults. If she was trying to rattle him right before she left then she was doing one hell of a job right now. Reiko squinted her violet eyes at him, evidently not taking kindly to his threats. Though the look she was giving him was slightly unnerving, there was something about the unique colour of her eyes that he found alluring. He didn't know what to make of that feeling.

"Disrespectful and offensive at times," she continued, slower this time. "I still think you're a nice guy because you've helped me out a lot. I think I will miss you when I get back home."

In a spur of movement, Reiko bridged the remaining distance and wrapped her arms around his neck in a similar friendly embrace. Tasuki was too stunned to move. Her body felt so soft and feminine against his. There was an unexplainable compulsion to wrap his arms around her tiny waist and return the hug, but Reiko moved away before he could give in to the temptation.

Reiko grabbed the cat by the scruff of his neck and jumped on to the horse in one smooth movement, causing the two men to widen their eyes at her rough treatment of the creature. She turned to them one last time as she got settled on to her new horse. "By the way, I like the name Tasuki better. Try not to be such a pain in the butt when you're with your group of new friends, you really have no idea how annoying you can be."

Tasuki snorted. "Speak for yourself, you little brat. Stay out of trouble when you reach Kuto, we won't be there for you if you get yourself into hot water again."

"Whatever," she said with a roll of her eyes and waved for one last time before storming down the path.

As Tasuki watched her ride off into the woods, he wondered if he would ever see her again. In an odd way he'd miss her and he wished he'd given her a better goodbye, no matter the discomfort it might have brought him. He sighed. Well, there was nothing he could do about it now in any case. He had a new path in life for the time being. Hopefully if at all possible, that path would eventually cross with hers again in the future.

**X X X**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

I apologize to those who were waiting for this chapter to come out. I've been slacking off for long, long time (yes, I know I'm a horrible writer) but hopefully I can resume to my writing and post as often as I can (maybe at least twice a month if I have time). As always, please feel free to drop me reviews and let me know what you think of the story and characters so far! Constructive criticism is always welcome! Hopefully I will see you guys again soon!


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